The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) has released a new roadmap meant to lead to shorter timelines and “better outcomes” for connecting clean energy resources to the distribution and sub-transmission grids.
The Distributed Energy Resource Interconnection Roadmap sets targets and strategies intended to improve interconnection processes and maintain the reliability of the electric grid. DOE also announced $16 million in upcoming funding to support stakeholder engagement and technical assistance to adopt interconnection strategies on the distribution and transmission grids.
Additionally, DOE and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation announced $2.1 million for selected distribution utilities to pilot interconnection software solutions. To encourage collaboration, DOE launched i2X Connect, an online platform that provides a space for interconnection stakeholders to exchange ideas and know-how. Improving interconnection processes will reduce costs, shorten timelines, and support a reliable, resilient electric grid.
“As more people and businesses choose to buy solar energy, wind turbines, batteries, and electric vehicles, they are facing significant delays and roadblocks connecting to the grid,” said Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “The solutions in this roadmap tackle interconnection challenges from all angles to help communities across the country connect these resources faster while increasing the resilience and reliability of the grid.”
Deployment of DER resources is accelerating rapidly, DOE said; for example, from 2010 to 2023, the number of residential rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems grew from 89,000 to 4.7 million. DOE argues that DER interconnection processes at the distribution and sub-transmission system levels need to evolve to handle the growing volume of customer demand.
What’s on the roadmap?
The DOE roadmap is intended for a broad range of interconnection stakeholders—including utilities, state agencies, regulators, equipment manufacturers, consumer advocates, equity and energy justice groups, researchers, interconnection customers, and other actors—with 39 solutions organized around four goals:
- Increasing data access, transparency, and security
- Improving interconnection processes and timelines
- Promoting economic efficiency in interconnection
- Maintaining a reliable, resilient, and secure grid
The roadmap provides specific actions that the interconnection community can take in the next five years and beyond to address current DER interconnection challenges. Developed through engagement with more than 1,000 interconnection stakeholders, the roadmap solutions offer strategies rather than prescriptive fixes and are categorized to help stakeholders in different states or regions identify those that best meet their needs and priorities.
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The roadmap also identifies five measurable targets for interconnection improvement by 2030. These include targets for shorter interconnection times and higher interconnection completion rates based on the size of the new system. The roadmap targets also aims for all 50 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, to have public, detailed, and current interconnection queue data available. Additionally, the roadmap sets goals for grid resilience and reliability: meant to ensure zero DER-related grid disturbances and to decrease the time to restore service after a power outage by 25%.
This roadmap complements DOE’s Transmission Interconnection Roadmap, published in April 2024, which identifies solutions for challenges in transmission system interconnection.
What is i2X Connect?
To speed the implementation of the solutions identified in the two i2X roadmaps, DOE is rolling out i2X Connect, an online platform that provides a space for utilities, grid operators, state and local governments, clean energy industry, energy justice groups, non-profits, interconnection customers, and other stakeholders to connect. The goal of the platform is to enable the implementation of solutions to improve interconnection processes through engagement and collaboration.
The DOE-moderated i2X Connect platform allows professionals representing their organizations to discuss key interconnection topics, including data transparency, equity and energy justice, grid engineering practices and standards, interconnection workforce and training, queue management and cost allocation, and electric vehicle grid integration. Interested professionals can sign up for an i2X Connect account with their organization email address to join the conversation.
Pilot demonstrations
DOE and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation selected twelve projects across ten utilities whose collective service territories span 24 states to receive $2.1 million through the i2X Innovative Queue Management Solutions (iQMS) for Clean Energy Interconnection and Energization Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) program. Many distribution utilities lack the tools and internal capabilities to adequately manage the large volume of interconnection requests for mid-scale clean energy (100 kilowatt to 5 megawatt) and flexible demand (e.g., EV charging) projects without delays or high costs, DOE said. These projects will fund distribution utilities to pilot solutions for managing renewable energy and EV charging interconnection and energization queues. The selected distribution utilities are:
- American Electric Power and Appalachian Power (Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia): $200,000
- Duquesne Light Company (Pennsylvania): $200,000
- Eversource Energy (Connecticut): $200,000
- La Plata Electric Association (Colorado): $200,000
- LeapTran, Inc. and Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (Texas): $200,000
- National Grid USA (Massachusetts and New York): $300,000
- NetMeterGO.com and Paducah Power Systems (Kentucky): $100,000
- Puget Sound Energy (Washington): $300,000
- Warren Rural Electric Co-Op Corporation (Kentucky): $200,000
- Xcel Energy Services, Inc. (Colorado): $200,000
New funding for stakeholder collaboration and technical assistance
DOE also announced two upcoming interconnection funding opportunities expected to open for applications in spring 2025. The i2X Distributed Energy Resources Interconnection Solutions Collaboratives (DERISC) PIA will provide up to $8 million to support local, state, or regional collaborative teams to prioritize and tailor solutions in the DER Interconnection Roadmap.
The i2X Accelerating Transmission System Interconnection Strategies (ATSIS) voucher program PIA will provide up to $8 million to offer specialized technical assistance to transmission owners and providers. The assistance will help evaluate cost-saving interconnection solutions using grid-enhancing technologies and other advanced capabilities, with the aim of accelerating grid interconnection timelines and reducing overall costs.
