FERC Order No. 2023: Implications And Unanswered Questions

On July 28, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its long awaited final rule, Order No. 2023, directing all public utility transmission providers to revise their pro forma generator interconnection queue rules. All four FERC Commissioners supported the final rule. According to Chairman Willie Phillips, this rule represents the most significant set of interconnection reforms in two decades and will ensure that generation resources are able to connect to the grid in a timely and efficient manner.

BACKGROUND:

In the final rule, the Commission described significant changes in the electricity sector since the issuance of Order Nos. 2003 and 2006, including a rapidly changing resource mix and an explosion of new resources with differing characteristics seeking to interconnect with the transmission system. Existing rules have created incentives for interconnection customers to submit speculative interconnection requests to secure a favorable