FINDING A WAY TO SHARE THE TITLE

Generators want timeliness and consistency in the interconnection agreement process. Transmission providers want to ensure reliability and keep the process orderly. Both sides want the process to be fair and open. As the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission works toward hammering out its interconnection policy, Edison Electric Institute has been working with generators and transmission providers to develop a "roadmap" for a model agreement. Two critical aspects of model procedures are that they define time restrictions and outline the responsibilities of the parties in a consistent way. The model would

• set out the basics about what a generator must do to make an interconnection request and how the transmission provider (whether a utility system or a regional transmission operator RTO) must handle it. The agreement would set forth cash deposits for the interconnection impact study, details required for the request, and time limits for accepting the request;
  
• outline the process for fitting the generator into the queue (that is, the RTO's priority for interconnection), at what point that queue position is fixed, and what can cause you to lose that position;
  
• provide a schedule moving from receipt of the interconnection request to the RTO's provision of an "interconnection impact study agreement," to an impact study (which consists of a power flow analysis, a short-circuit analysis, and a transient stability analysis to evaluate the impact of the proposed generation capacity addition on the reliability of the transmission system);
  
• describe the schedule and requirements for a preliminary and a final interconnection facilities study, which determines the work required to effect the physical and electrical connection of the proposed generation capacity addition to the transmission system at the point of interconnection, and to address any problems identified in the interconnection impact study;
• describe the schedule and requirements for requesting optional studies, which might incorporate a reasonable number of transmission paths selected by the generator, the existence of proposed generator interconnections in the queue, or an evaluation of the generator's receipt of electric energy for start-up and auxiliary service;
  
• outline the requirements for an interconnection and operating agreement, the generator's and transmission provider's duties regarding execution of the agreement, and their duties if they wait for FERC to execute it.

For more information, visit EEI's website, www.eei.org.