The Interconnection Queue Continues to Be a Barrier to American Economic Competitiveness
Untapped solutions that can streamline processes and speed up generator interconnection timelines.
Building Clean, Competitive Grids
An affordable, reliable, and clean US energy future is within reach — but we must choose to build it. We must invest in our electric grid and leverage competitive markets to both meet rapid load growth and keep bills affordable.
Why This Matters
Affordable outcomes for ratepayers
Americans benefit from competitive markets and a modernized grid
Meeting growing energy demand
To power data centers and electrification, the US must both invest in its electric grid and get more from the existing system.
At RMI, we believe that collaborative grid planning and competitive interconnection will allow the United States to build the most cost-effective electricity system. Competitive markets will then allow Americans to reap the benefits of a modernized grid, including investments in advanced transmission technologies and flexible generation and load.
How We Work
Analyze
Provide data-driven insights and solutions
Convene
Bring together market stakeholders
Enable
Support implementation for regulators and market actors
In our work, we grapple with complex grid challenges through a combination of a deep understanding of grid physics and extensive experience convening diverse stakeholders.
Explore the Work
Interconnection
Speed and fairness for generation and load interconnection
Transmission
Improved planning and accelerated build out
Market Design
Strengthened competition, reliability, and economic efficiency
Interconnection
We are working to increase the speed and fairness with which we connect new generation and load to the US grid. Our recent reports have quantified the cost and time savings of interconnection interventions at the intersections of policy, technology, and regulation.
PJM’s Speed to Power Problem and How to Fix It
Overlooked interconnection improvements are key to alleviating PJM’s cost and capacity crises.
GETting Interconnected in PJM
An analysis of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) as network upgrades to accelerate the interconnection of projects in PJM’s queue.
Transmission
We work to identify structural challenges and provide practical solutions to improve how we plan, pay for, and permit transmission. We also work directly with regulators, utilities, and industry to support regional and interregional transmission planning, cost allocation, advanced transmission technologies, and permitting. Our recent work includes:
Energy Zones In Action
Examples of Energy Zones that serve as a tool for coordinated planning, siting, and permitting of generation and transmission infrastructure.
Community Benefits Resources
Resources to help energy developers and utilities engage meaningfully with communities to support strong partnerships and derisk investments.
The State Regulator’s Role in Transmission
A handbook for US state regulators on how to advance proactive transmission buildout to reduce costs for ratepayers.
Mind the Regulatory Gap
A regulatory gap has led to a costly shift in utility investment to local transmission assets, putting the energy transition at risk.
High Voltage, High Reward Transmission
Large-scale transmission projects deliver significant cost savings to American consumers and businesses.
Advanced Transmission Technologies Planning Guide
Structured methodologies for incorporating advanced transmission technologies, prepared by Danovo Energy Solutions
Getting Advanced Transmission Technologies to Scale
How corporate action can spur the acceleration of alternative transmission technologies beyond initial deployments.
Understanding FERC’s Order 1920
An RMI fact sheet and flowchart summarizing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation Rule.
Winter Storm Fern Highlights the Need for More Resilient Transmission
How stronger transmission and modernizing the grid could reduce outages, lower costs, and protect communities during extreme weather.
Market Design
Our market design efforts provide analysis and recommendations to support reforms that increase competition, ensure reliability, and leverage economics to support public policy goals. Our previous engagements have focused on PJM and its capacity market as well as how to best integrate large loads into our existing systems.
Large Energy Users Want Power. Here’s How to Protect Other Ratepayers from the Costs.
Designing large load tariffs with strong safeguards can reduce the risk of cost shifting, but adoption of them varies.
New Ways to Power Data Centers and Other Large Energy Users
How Bring-Your-Own and Clean Transition Tariffs could meet the energy needs of large customers while reducing risks for other ratepayers.
Scaling Clean: Assessing Market Options for Clean Energy and Capacity in PJM
Spurred by state decarbonization policy, strong customer demand, and rapidly improving technology, carbon-free energy is playing a growing role in PJM, the United States’ largest wholesale electricity market.
How Data Centers Can Set the Stage for Larger Loads to Come
Due to their growing power demand, data centers can set a precedent for how to handle load growth in a way that supports the grid and ensures reliable, resilient, carbon-free electricity.
Cutting Carbon While Keeping the Lights On
The United States could replace 100% of its coal generation with renewables, storage, and demand-side management while maintaining reserve margins.
Clean Power by the Hour
Assessing the costs and emissions impacts of hourly carbon-free energy procurement strategies.
Additional Resources
The State Regulator’s Role in Transmission
A handbook for US state regulators on how to advance proactive transmission buildout to reduce costs for ratepayers.
Transmission Resource Library
A downloadable spreadsheet with a list of all major reports on transmission going back to 2004.
Paving the Way for Cost-Effective Transmission
Regional transmission pays off big-time. So, why aren’t utilities building it?
High Voltage, High Reward Transmission
Large-scale transmission projects deliver significant cost savings to American consumers and businesses.
Mind the Regulatory Gap
A regulatory gap has led to a costly shift in utility investment to local transmission assets, putting the energy transition at risk.
FERC Order 1920 Can Help PJM Plan for the Future
The new FERC rulemaking creates valuable opportunities for PJM to strengthen its current draft long-term regional transmission planning proposal.
Understanding FERC’s Order 1920
An RMI fact sheet and flowchart summarizing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation Rule.
RMI Transmission Fellowship
Elevate your skills and knowledge to build the clean grid of the future through RMI’s transmission fellowship program.
Webinar – States in Sync: The Western Win-Win Transmission Opportunity
Today, Western states have the chance to make transformative investments that will unlock incredible economic opportunities enabled by new energy.
GETting Interconnected in PJM
An analysis of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) as network upgrades to accelerate the interconnection of projects in PJM’s queue.
Planning for PJM’s Grid of the Future Starts Today
PJM’s proposed long-term regional transmission planning marks a new way forward. How much it will deliver is still uncertain.
GET a GRIP: A Path to More Renewable Energy on the Grid
Grid-enhancing technologies could increase grid transmission capacity at a low cost. New DOE funds make that opportunity even more attractive.
We Don’t Need Another Interregional Transmission Study to Take Action
The value of interregional transmission has been studied for decades. Now we need help building it.
Going the Distance on Interconnection Queue Reform
FERC’s rulemaking takes us only part of the way to effective and efficient interconnection.
Cheaper, Cleaner, Faster
Four strategies utility regulators can use to accelerate new renewables interconnection.
Increased Spending on Transmission in PJM — Is It the Right Type of Line?
PJM utilities have increased their spending on transmission in recent years but more so on low-voltage projects that don’t advance large-scale grid decarbonization.
Wasted Wind and Tenable Transmission during Winter Storm Elliott
More wind energy and interregional transmission could have mitigated the impacts of rolling blackouts experienced during Winter Storm Elliott.
Reality Check: The United States Has the Only Major Power Grid without a Plan
The US electric grid is fragmented into independent grids and transmission planning regions, which poses a threat to reliability, especially during increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
