# Plain Language Summary: Efficient Grid Interconnection Act of 2023

This bill makes it easier and cheaper for renewable energy and battery storage projects to connect to the electrical grid. Right now, when a solar farm or wind project wants to hook up to the power grid, they often face long delays and get stuck paying huge bills for upgrades to the transmission system—sometimes millions of dollars that benefit everyone else too. This bill says that's unfair and needs to change.

The main problem the bill tackles is something called "participant funding," where a single renewable energy company has to pay for all the grid upgrades needed to connect their project, even though those upgrades help the entire electrical system and benefit many other customers. Under this bill, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the agency that oversees the power grid) has to create new rules within six months that spread these costs fairly among everyone who benefits from the upgrades. So instead of one solar company paying $50 million to upgrade transmission lines that will serve thousands of customers, that cost gets shared among all the parties who actually benefit from having that improved infrastructure.

The bill also pushes the grid operators to consider using newer, smarter technologies—like advanced power flow controllers and energy storage systems—that can sometimes do the job of expensive traditional upgrades like building new transmission lines. If these technologies can solve the problem faster and cheaper, the bill requires grid operators to study them and consider using them instead of the old-fashioned approach. If a renewable energy company thinks these technologies should be used but the grid operator refuses, they can appeal to the federal regulator and potentially get the technology deployed anyway.

The practical effect is that renewable energy projects should become cheaper and faster to build, which could lower electricity costs for consumers and speed up the transition to clean energy. It also means more jobs in construction and manufacturing for these grid technologies, particularly in rural areas where many wind and solar projects are located.

Efficient Grid Interconnection Act of 2023

Castor, Kathy

Efficient Grid Interconnection Act of 2023 This bill establishes requirements concerning (1) the equitable allocation of costs for electric grid upgrades; and (2) the deployment of grid enhancing technology or equipment that increases the capacity, efficiency, or reliability of a transmission facility or transmission system. Specifically, it directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue regulations that require public electric utilities to allocate the cost of upgrades to the electric grid, such as upgrades to interconnect renewable generation projects, among all customers that benefit from the upgrades. In determining which parties benefit, FERC must consider all material benefits of the network upgrade, including environmental benefits and those that cannot be directly quantified. In addition, FERC must issue regulations that apply to regional transmission organizations, independent system operators, or transmission planning coordinators when they are processing requests to interconnect generation projects or energy storage projects to the electric grid. The regulations must require such organizations, operators, and coordinators to study deploying technology or equipment that increases the capacity, efficiency, or reliability of a transmission facility or transmission system.