Southwest Power Pool asks FERC to postpone 2024 interconnection requests
Policy & Regulation

Southwest Power Pool asks FERC to postpone 2024 interconnection requests

Interconnection: Good things come to those who wait(?) is not working out as a tee shirt slogan

As highlighted in a new report, interconnection queues around the country are backlogged. Terawatts of renewable projects are waiting to be connected to electrical grids. Mandates like FERC order 2023 intend to improve interconnection processes, but the horse may already have the barn in its rearview mirror.

Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which manages the electric grid and wholesale power market across 14 states in the central U.S., would at least like that horse to slow down.

Unprecedented queue volume has prompted SPP to ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a one-time waiver from part of its Open Access Transmission Tariff, namely the part about Generator Interconnection Procedures. In its filing, SPP requests postponing the processing of 2024 interconnection requests and holding off on accepting new ones until the grid operator can catch up on previous clusters. Blaming integration complexities and resource limitations, SPP suggests the waiver is necessary to focus on existing requests and provide them with more reliable study results.

Southwest Power Pool evaluates interconnection requests via a three-step study process, outlined below:

Southwest Power Pool’s three-phase study process. (Courtesy: SPP)

Southwest Power Pool made three specific requests in its waiver submission:

  1. Deferring the start of the DISIS phase one study for the DISIS-2024-001 Cluster: SPP wants to delay until after the completion of the first planned restudy of the DISIS-2023-001 cluster because it says assumptions underlying the phase one study for DISIS-2024-001 would be unreliable if initiated before the conclusions of the prior cluster studies.
  2. Extending the DISIS-2024 queue cluster window: SPP seeks permission to postpone the closing of the window, scheduled for October 31, 2024, until March 1, 2025. SPP says this extension grants potential interconnection customers additional time to submit their requests while ensuring that the studies for the 2024 cluster can be informed by the results of prior clusters.
  3. Deferring the opening of the 2025 DISIS queue cluster window: SPP is also requesting to delay the opening of the next cluster window until either April 1, 2026 or the completion of Decision Point Two for the DISIS-2024-001 cluster, whichever comes first. This measure aims to manage the timing of interconnection requests so that SPP can focus its resources on processing the existing high volume of requests in the pipeline before opening new ones.

In its filing, SPP maintains granting the waiver will not delay the completion of any future clusters or the execution of Generator Interconnection Agreements (GIAs). SPP says the waiver will allow it to streamline its interconnection management process, reduce unreliable study assumptions, and ultimately ensure more reliable outcomes for all involved stakeholders. Without the waiver, SPP suggests it’s likely new customers would incur unnecessary costs and time related to studying potentially unreliable interconnection data.

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SPP believes its request is positioned within the framework set by FERC’s standards for waivers, asserting that it meets all four criteria for approval: good faith action, limited scope, addressing a concrete issue, and no adverse impact on third parties. SPP would like its waiver considered before the closure of the DISIS-2024-001 queue cluster window on October 31, 2024.

What’s going on in SPP’s queue?

SPP’s current generator interconnection active queue totals 419 projects and 85.4 GW. More than 90% of its capacity comes from renewable sources.

Southwest Power Pool’s current generation interconnection queue by region. Purple represents battery storage, orange is solar, green is wind, hybrid technologies are yellow, and thermal generation is represented in light blue. (Courtesy: SPP)

Interconnection requests in SPP country have reliably increased year-over-year; SPP’s cluster eclipsed 100 for the first time in 2022 and in 2023 hit a record-high 129 requests, totaling more than 2.8 GW.

Southwest Power Pool’s active projects by total MW and by year. Purple represents battery storage, orange is solar, green is wind, hybrid technologies are yellow, and thermal generation is represented in light blue. (Courtesy: SPP)

That’s a whole lot of renewables jammed up in a queue to provide generation in a territory that currently relies on a fuel mix mostly comprised of natural gas and coal. A quick peek at SPP’s generation mix this afternoon shows more than 49% natural gas and nearly 40% coal, leaving scant space for renewables like hydro (4%), wind (3.8%), and solar (1%).

Lisa Barrett, a director at clean energy trade association Advanced Energy United, said SPP pausing its queue is “disappointing.”

“It’s a reflection of how backlogged queues are in SPP and across the country, as well as the result of some unforced errors, like SPP’s failure to conduct contingent facility studies that caused further delays and restudies while trying to mitigate its queue backlog,” she added. “The waiver request underscores the urgency of moving forward with SPP’s Consolidated Planning Process, which has the potential for significant improvements to interconnection if well designed and implemented, including its proposed entry fee, among other positive reforms.”