%0 Generic
%A Joachim Seel
%A Julie Mulvaney Kemp
%A Joseph Rand
%A Will Gorman
%A Dev Millstein
%A Fritz Kahrl
%A Ryan H Wiser
%D 2023
%G eng
%T Generator Interconnection Costs to the Transmission System - Summary Briefing
%8 06/2023
%X <p>Berkeley Lab has published a series of briefs analyzing <a title="webpage link" href="https://emp.lbl.gov/interconnection_costs" target="_blank">interconnection cost trends</a> 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:</p><ul><li>Interconnection queues have exploded over the past years, resulting in lengthy study processes with high applicant withdrawal rates.</li><li>Interconnection cost estimates are not available as pre-request information but require a lengthy interconnection study process. Final cost estimates remain difficult to collect.</li><li>Interconnection costs have grown substantially over time in all studied regions.</li><li>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the lowest cost compared to applicants still actively working through the interconnection process or those that have withdrawn.</li><li>Upgrade requirements of the broader transmission system are the primary cost driver.</li><li>Many projects facing high interconnection costs withdraw from the queue.</li><li>Renewables and storage projects have higher interconnection costs than natural gas power plants.</li><li>Larger generators have greater interconnection costs in absolute terms, but economies of scale can exist on a per kW basis.</li><li>Interconnection costs vary by location</li></ul><p>This work was funded, in part, under the U.S. Department of Energy’s <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/i2x/interconnection-innovation-e-xchange">Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange</a> (i2X)</p>