Interconnection Key Takeaways
State Grade Breakdown
Thirty-seven states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have statewide interconnection procedures. Out of those:
- New Mexico received the only “A” grade and has incorporated the highest number of best practices identified in Freeing the Grid (FTG);
- Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, and New York received “B” grades;
- Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia received “C” grades; and
- Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin received “D” grades.
Thirteen states have not adopted statewide interconnection procedures and thus received “F” grades, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wyoming.
Lack of Rule Standardization and Consistency
Though some states may have the same letter grade and/or numerical score, no two states have exactly the same rules, meaning that there is a lack of standardization and consistency across state lines and even across electric utility territories that may be spread out over different states and regions.
New 2023 Criteria and Reporting
The updated FTG interconnection criteria list includes 35 new provisions and updated language for 8 criteria (see the Criteria page for the full list).
In addition to highlighting new criteria and language added this year, the Criteria section also includes the number of states that received full or partial credit for the complete list of criteria.
New in 2023: Badges to Recognize the Incorporation of Noteworthy Best Practices
To recognize state efforts to incorporate new and updated interconnection practices, Freeing the Grid created badges related to energy storage, IEEE 1547™-2018, and transparency that are included in the state interconnection grade sheets. These new badges highlight states’ efforts to update their rules to streamline energy storage interconnection, adopt the most up-to-date technical standards, and share information with interconnection applicants that can lead to greater clarity around costs and processes as well as more informed decisions on project siting and design.
TRANSPARENCY
Awarded to states that require pre-application reports, detailed screening and study results, itemized upgrade cost estimates, and at least monthly public queue reporting that allows for the tracking of the interconnection process steps.
ENERGY STORAGE
Awarded to states that have included energy storage as an eligible technology in their interconnection rules, incorporated the concept of export capacity, and identified acceptable export control methods.
IEEE 1547-2018
Awarded to states that have incorporated the IEEE 1547-2018 Standard and identified or referenced performance categories as well as voltage and frequency settings.
These “badges” are denoted as Noteworthy Best Practices on the state webpages and fact sheets.