Committee approves resolution urging FERC to speed interconnection reviews as queue backlog grows

The Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee passed House Concurrent Resolution 3 on a 10‑2 roll call, urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and regional transmission organizations to address multi‑year interconnection backlogs and to adopt expedited review procedures for certain generation additions.

The resolution, presented by committee Chair Ed Soliday, asks federal and regional authorities to develop prioritization or expedited processes to reduce a backlog that witnesses and committee members described as taking up to four years. The committee voted to pass HCR 3 after more than a dozen witnesses and industry groups testified.

HCR 3 does not direct a specific technical fix; it asks federal regulators and RTOs to create systems other than strictly first‑come, first‑served interconnection queues. Chair Ed Soliday said the bill’s purpose was ‘‘to unjam the backlog’’ and emphasized the measure was not prescribing a single solution: "We're not telling them what to do, but it has to be something better than what we have now."

Why it matters: witnesses told the committee long queue times are delaying new generation and transmission needed to meet…