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Lawmakers, FERC and industry press to speed interconnection as queues swell
Summary
Members of the House Energy Subcommittee and witnesses said long interconnection queue delays are blocking thousands of projects — mostly wind, solar and batteries — from reaching the grid and urged FERC and grid operators to accelerate studies, increase automation and adopt stronger commercial-readiness tests.
Members of the House Energy Subcommittee and witnesses said long delays in the transmission interconnection process are a central barrier to meeting rapid growth in electricity demand.
"We need to interconnect new generation expeditiously," Acting General Counsel David Morinoff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told the committee, citing FERC Order No. 2023 and follow-up compliance filings. Morinoff said the commission has processed most initial compliance filings but that further progress will be needed to move projects through the queue.
Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D‑Fla.) pressed the point as a central plank of her Expediting Generator Interconnection Procedures Act, telling the panel the bill would help FERC and regional grid operators adopt "automation and AI technologies" and other reforms to make interconnection studies faster and more transparent.
Industry witnesses and legal experts said automation, clearer study timelines and more rigorous commercial‑readiness tests would be constructive. "Order No. 2023 was an important step, but it is not enough," said Kim Smasniak, a former FERC official now in private practice. She praised grid operators that are piloting AI and automation for interconnection work, and urged a technology‑neutral, fuel‑neutral approach so competition and innovation can lower costs.
FERC staff and witnesses also described the scale and character of the backlog. Morinoff said interconnection queues are large and predominantly composed of intermittent resources — wind, solar and storage — and that many projects lack the near‑term commercial readiness to be built quickly. Multiple members cited studies and witnesses that find median queue wait times near five years in recent years.
Committee members and witnesses framed queue reform as one element of a broader set of fixes — including transmission expansion and supply‑chain support — that must proceed in parallel. Several witnesses urged the committee to avoid laws that would prioritize one technology class over others in the queue, arguing that picking winners could slow overall progress and raise costs for ratepayers.
The subcommittee did not vote on legislation at the hearing. Lawmakers signaled support for additional rulemaking at FERC and for exploring ways DOE and the commission can use automation, clearer deadlines and commercial‑readiness screening to move viable projects to construction more quickly.
