Federal Rule Update to Speed Clean Energy Approvals

Changes to a federal rule will let clean energy reach the grid faster, reports Justine Calma in The Verge.

“As it is now, it takes an average of five years for a new energy project to connect to the grid. There’s a huge backlog of more than 2,000 gigawatts of clean energy generation and storage that’s just waiting in line for approval. That’s about as much capacity as the nation’s existing power plants have for generating electricity today,” Calma explains.

To clear the backlog, the new federal rule will require grid managers to assess projects in clusters instead of one at a time. They’ll also face firm deadlines and penalties for failing to finish interconnection studies on time. The new rule prioritizes projects that are the farthest along in development and also includes new requirements for project developers, like financial deposits to discourage them from proposing projects that might not pull through.

Clean energy advocates cheered the regulatory changes, which could go a long way toward achieving a 100 percent renewable power grid by 2035, the goal set by the Biden administration.