Fixing interconnection

Everything's bigger in Texas—the hats, the boots, the convenience stores. But its interconnection times? They’re surprisingly short.

In the U.S. it takes power generators four years on average to get approval to connect to the grid, and in some places, it takes far longer. In the Texas electricity market, it takes only about 1.5 years between interconnection request and agreement. And it costs way less to interconnect, too. 

The results are telling. The Texas grid, operated by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, has installed more wind power than any other state—40+ gigawatts worth. It’s also installed 19 gigawatts of solar power, second only to California. ERCOT has interconnected two times more generation than PJM, an electricity market in the Mid-Atlantic, even though PJM is two times larger than ERCOT in terms of peak load. 

So what does Texas know about interconnection that the rest of the U.S. doesn’t? And how could other states learn from Texas? 

In this episode, Shayle talks to Tyler Norris, PhD student at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and former vice president of development at Cypress Creek Renewables. Tyler recently published a policy brief on how the U.S. could reform its interconnection process, applying lessons from ERCOT.

They cover topics like:

Why FERC’s system impact studies lead to long delays and high costs

ERCOT’s shorter and lower-cost process, called “connect-and-manage”

Recommended Resources:

Duke Nicholas Institute: Beyond FERC Order 2023: Considerations on Deep Interconnection Reform

Catalyst: Understanding the transmission bottleneck

FERC: E-1: Commissioner Clements Concurrence on Order No. 2023: Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements

Brattle Group: Generation Interconnection and Transmission Planning

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