Flex and Invest: A New Approach to Generator Interconnection

Key Takeaways

• Average interconnection wait time reached 55 months in 2024
• 2,300 GW of projects sit in interconnection queues
• FERC aims to act on large load docket by June 2026
• Flex & Invest proposes flexible, fast, lower‑cost interconnection framework
• ERCOT and SPP models highlighted as scalable best practices

Pulse Analysis

The current interconnection landscape is a critical choke point for the United States’ clean‑energy transition. With an average 55‑month wait, developers face mounting financing costs and investors confront heightened risk, while the grid sits on a backlog of more than 2,300 GW of projects. This delay not only inflates the price of new capacity but also hampers the ability to meet the projected 160 GW of additional demand by 2030, a surge three times California’s peak load.

Regulators are beginning to address the crisis. FERC’s commitment to act on the Large Load Interconnection Docket by mid‑2026 signals a shift toward accommodating massive, flexible loads. Recent approvals of SPP’s High Impact Large Load (HILL) proposal and PJM’s colocation rules illustrate a growing willingness to decouple interconnection studies from traditional deliverability constraints. By allowing generation and load to share transmission pathways, these reforms aim to streamline studies, reduce redundancy, and unlock the value of storage and demand‑side resources.

Flex & Invest builds on these regulatory moves, proposing a holistic, “flexible, fast, lower‑cost” interconnection model. The initiative emphasizes treating demand as a resource, separating capacity accreditation from deliverability, and adopting proven frameworks like ERCOT’s Connect & Manage and SPP’s Consolidated Planning Process. If industry stakeholders coalesce around these principles, the United States could dramatically shorten queue times, lower project costs, and ensure a resilient grid capable of integrating the next wave of renewable generation.