FERC Action Will Help Us Add More Reliable, Affordable, Clean Energy to Our Grid

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took a great step today when it approved a set of improvements for how we connect new energy generators and storage resources to our national power grid.

“Renewable energy projects often face long delays before interconnection, and those delays were likely to get longer because of the rapidly increasing number of projects being created with funding from the historic Inflation Reduction Act. FERC’s new improvements will streamline the process for transmission connection. That will allow us to provide reliable, affordable clean power to people across the country faster and more easily.

“FERC decided today to revamp its study process so that multiple energy resources can be studied simultaneously, create a more even-handed system for sharing costs among multiple applicants, strengthen readiness requirements to help prioritize projects that need to be connected to the grid, and increase enforcement of deadlines to reduce delays. I was especially pleased that FERC decided to allow renewable resources and energy storage projects to share single applications for interconnection, to specifically recognize certain unique characteristics of storage projects, and to require the use of the best possible technologies for conducting interconnection studies.

“Clean power is the most affordable option on the market right now. It is creating jobs across the country, saving families money, helping millions of people have healthier air to breathe, and helping us address the climate crisis. FERC’s actions today will accelerate the addition of clean power to the grid, turbocharged by the Inflation Reduction Act, which will benefit consumers and the climate.”

            - Ted Kelly, EDF Senior Attorney for Energy Markets and Regulation