Court Dismisses Industry Challenge to FERC’s Reforms that Will Speed the Connection of Clean Energy

Three years ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ordered grid operators and utility companies around the country to speed the connection of new energy sources to the grid. FERC Order No. 2023 demanded that they reform their policies to connect new energy projects to the grid faster, more efficiently, and more transparently. Today, the court issued a ruling upholding FERC’s interconnection reforms against a legal challenge from several grid operators and utilities.

FERC’s Order No. 2023 sought to modernize outdated processes that had left thousands of gigawatts of power (primarily clean energy such as solar, wind and energy storage) waiting years to connect to the grid.

At the time, roughly 2,600 gigawatts of proposed generating and storage capacity were stuck in interconnection queues. Almost all of the projects — about 95% — were solar, wind and energy storage.

“This is a win for ratepayers, competition, and the environment. It will help speed interconnection processes and unlock cheaper, cleaner energy that has been waiting years to connect to the grid,” said Earthjustice attorney Alexander Tom, who argued the case before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Since the order was issued three years ago, the need to unlock that abundant power has grown even more pressing. Cleaner, cheaper resources can help combat the worsening climate crisis, curb skyrocketing electricity prices, and maintain reliability. Today’s ruling affirms FERC’s reforms and holds grid operators and utilities responsible for connecting new energy projects faster. That means investing the resources and latest technology to complete studies on time and deploying advanced transmission technologies that can quickly increase the capacity of the existing grid to bring on new energy.”