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Committee grants conditional approval to DOE interconnection rules after fee and wording changes
Summary
The Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules gave conditional approval to the Department of Energy's EN-1000 distributed energy resources interconnection rules after the department agreed to remove PUC approval language and add a clarification that only 'operational performance' is protected; developers warned the rules could impose unpredictable costs on small 'customer generators.'
The Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules conditionally approved the Department of Energy's EN-1000 rules governing distributed energy resource interconnection after accepting two oral amendments that change how interconnection fees are set and clarify the phrase 'performance.'
The committee accepted agency language that removes a requirement that fees be approved by the Public Utilities Commission and instead establishes a DOE supplemental review and appeals process between developers and utilities. The committee also approved inserting 'operational' before 'performance' to narrow the scope of equipment or controls utilities may require after an interconnection agreement is executed.
Why it matters: stakeholders said the rules determine how utilities recover costs for fast-track and supplemental reviews and how much unpredictability small developers face when connecting customer-owned generators to the grid. Developers pressed that fees should be predictable and limited to distribution-level upgrades; the department argued the amended language aligns with statutory authority and provides an appeals path.
Industry and developer testimony was mixed. Packy Campbell, a small solar developer, said the draft rules would let utilities impose transmission-level study costs on customer generators and called the result 'Russian roulette' for small projects: "The first words of this bill ... says customer generators, timely, cost effective, and predictable. Russian roulette ... is not an appropriate way." Campbell said he paid $26,000 for a transmission study on a 1-megawatt project and that the statute contemplates costs limited to the distribution point, not distant transmission upgrades.
Department of Energy regulatory director Amanda Nuna said the department had consulted with the PUC and, given stakeholder comments, offered amended text for the committee to resolve jurisdictional questions and to require utilities to set fees 'specific and designed to recover all costs associated with the fast-track review process.' Nuna asked the committee to issue a conditional approval of the revised language.
Eversource senior counsel Jessica Chiavarra told the committee the department's updated language resolves jurisdictional concerns and creates a standard for fee-setting that aligns with RSA references in the rule set; Eversource recommended conditional approval.
What the committee did: after staff confirmed the two oral amendments (creation of a DOE supplemental review process and the insertion of the word 'operational'), the chair moved conditional approval. The motion was seconded and the committee voted in favor; the conditional approval was adopted.
Next steps: the conditional approval allows the department to proceed with the amended rule set while preserving an administrative track for developers who wish to challenge fees or technical decisions. Stakeholders indicated they may continue to pursue clarifying language in future rulemaking or through the appeals process outlined in the rules.
