IREC-Supported Decision Protects Consumer Benefits and Clean Energy Goals The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted verbally in public deliberations on October 29 on a decision that resoundingly rejected practices by Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility, that have prevented the public from benefiting from ratepayer-funded tools that enhance the use of distributed clean energy...

A new regulatory ruling in Oregon, reflecting recommendations from IREC, improves how clean energy connects to the grid

A new program currently being proposed in New York State aims to improve the number of low-income customers who benefit from community solar cost savings.

Significant progress has been made to decarbonize U.S. electricity, largely driven by impressive renewable energy growth. But one critical issue, left unaddressed, will almost certainly derail ambitious climate and clean energy goals: interconnection. 

Minnesota utility Xcel Energy was fined one million dollars on Thursday for exceeding a maximum number of customer service complaints as a result of significant delays in its processing of interconnection requests for solar projects.

FERC Order 841, which was upheld by a D.C. Circuit Court ruling this summer, made clear that states could not explicitly bar the participation of distributed energy storage in wholesale markets. While this is an important milestone, state-level interconnection policies are the true gatekeepers to energy storage market participation.

Across the U.S., the process of connecting storage to the electric grid continues to be sluggish, complex, and unclear due to lack of clarity in relevant policies. 

A newly released standard creates nationally applicable guidance for DER manufacturers on how grid support functions in their products will be tested.

A new project, supported by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, aims to simplify the interconnection process for energy storage.

In the US, energy storage has quickly become a featured issue among legislative and regulatory discussions across the country.

For anyone in the distributed energy industry, the term “hosting capacity analysis” is one to know. Hosting capacity analysis (HCA) is a new analytical tool that can help states and utilities plan for and build a cleaner electric grid that optimizes customer-driven distributed energy resources (DERs), such as rooftop solar and energy storage.

What's working and what's not working with interconnection in the Southeast and across the country? Join IREC and SEIA at Solar Power Southeast in Atlanta on May 14, 1:00-4:30 and find out!

Focused on a relatively uncharted frontier in energy planning – distributed energy resource forecasting – IREC regulatory experts examine what a DER forecast is, why it matters, and what states, regulators and utilities should consider as they navigate future grid planning efforts.

Despite the astoundIng increase of grid-connected solar from 2005 to 2013, U.S. utilities and developers still face interconnection challenges. With proper planning, however, and using integrated distribution planning (IDP), states can overcome major interconnection challenges, including closed circuits, that are hindering the integration of renewables.

An in-depth guide released by IREC, Optimizing the Grid: A Regulator’s Guide to Hosting Capacity Analyses for Distributed Energy Resources, will help states manage the grid redesign with new analytical tools and the benefit of lessons learned from states leading the way.

Just as we reach for mapping technologies when we’re on the road, there are many proven and emerging tools that applicants, utilities and regulators can use to improve transparency and access to grid data in the interconnection process.