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Generator Interconnection Costs to the Transmission System - Summary Briefing

Publication Type

Presentation

Date Published

06/2023

Authors

Seel, Joachim, Julie Mulvaney Kemp, Joseph Rand, Will Gorman, Dev Millstein, Fritz Kahrl, Ryan H Wiser

Abstract

Berkeley Lab has published a series of briefs analyzing interconnection cost trends across five U.S. wholesale electricity markets. The series employs extensive data collection (2500+ project-level interconnection cost estimates) and analysis for MISO, PJM, SPP, NYISO, and ISO-NE. The data provides developers, regulators, policymakers, and other stakeholders with critical insights about interconnection cost data that are often difficult and inefficient for the public to obtain. This presentation offers a summary of the analyses followed by key results for each market. We find:

Interconnection queues have exploded over the past years, resulting in lengthy study processes with high applicant withdrawal rates.
Interconnection cost estimates are not available as pre-request information but require a lengthy interconnection study process. Final cost estimates remain difficult to collect.
Interconnection costs have grown substantially over time in all studied regions.
Projects that have completed all required interconnection studies have the lowest cost compared to applicants still actively working through the interconnection process or those that have withdrawn.
Upgrade requirements of the broader transmission system are the primary cost driver.
Many projects facing high interconnection costs withdraw from the queue.
Renewables and storage projects have higher interconnection costs than natural gas power plants.
Larger generators have greater interconnection costs in absolute terms, but economies of scale can exist on a per kW basis.
Interconnection costs vary by location

This work was funded, in part, under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X)

Year of Publication

2023

Notes

A brief overview of this study can be viewed here.

A webinar recorded on June 29, 2023 discussing this research can be viewed here.