25-IEPR-06

Docket 25-IEPR-06, titled "Accelerating Interconnection and Energization," is part of the California Energy Commission’s 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) process. It focuses on identifying and addressing barriers to accelerating the interconnection and energization of clean energy resources in California, as required by Assembly Bill 1373 (Garcia, Chapter 367, Statutes of 2023). The docket includes public workshops, such as the August 11, 2025, remote-access event, to discuss improvements, gather public input, and provide updates on trends and solutions for connecting clean energy resources and customer loads at both the distribution and transmission levels. The process involves stakeholder engagement, updates on regulatory and technical developments, and coordination with the California Public Utilities Commission and other key entities to meet the state’s clean energy deployment and reliability goals by 2045 1, 1.

Key events and submissions in the 2025 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) proceeding on accelerating interconnection and energization (Docket 25-IEPR-06) include:

- July 11, 2025: Notice issued announcing the IEPR Commissioner Workshop on accelerating interconnection and energization, scheduled for August 11, 2025 1, 1.
- August 8, 2025: Workshop schedule and agenda posted, including presentation topics and panelists from CEC, CPUC, CAISO, PG&E, SCE, LADWP, and industry representatives 2.
- August 11, 2025: The remote-access workshop was held, featuring status updates, discussions of barriers and solutions, and public comments 1, 2.
- August 12, 2025: Updated presentations and materials from the workshop docketed, including a CPUC presentation on bulk grid interconnection status and improvements 3.
- August 14, 2025: Scheduled CPUC commission meeting for adoption of a new Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) to update Rule 21 and associated interconnection procedures. If adopted, a 60-day comment period will follow 4, 4, 4.
- August 25, 2025: Deadline for submitting written public comments on the proceeding 1.
- Additional future milestones (related to ISO interconnection process enhancements) are scheduled, such as the transmission plan deliverability (TPD) affidavit deadline on August 29, 2025, draft proposal posting on October 13, 2025, and final proposal posting on December 22, 2025 5, 6.

These events reflect the ongoing regulatory and stakeholder engagement process to address interconnection and energization barriers in California.

The main stakeholders in docket 25-IEPR-06, "Accelerating Interconnection and Energization," include:

- California Energy Commission (CEC) staff and leadership (including Chair David Hochschild and Vice Chair Siva Gunda)
- California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff
- California Independent System Operator (CAISO)
- Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) such as Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE)
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
- American Clean Power California (ACP-CA)
- Electrify America
- Peninsula Clean Energy
- Prosper Sustainably
- Members of the public and advisory groups (including the Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group)
- Various individuals listed for notification and distribution, such as Jane Park, Aria Berliner, Bryan Early, Sarah Lim, and others 1, 2.

The excerpts do not specify which stakeholders are for or against particular proposals within this docket. The workshops are designed to gather input, discuss barriers and solutions, and provide updates on policy and process improvements, but positions of individual stakeholders on specific proposals are not detailed in these excerpts 3, 2.

The docket on "accelerating interconnection and energization" identifies several key areas of growth and associated considerations:

1. Clean Energy Resource Deployment (Distribution and Transmission Level)
- Growth Areas: Expanded deployment of flexible loads at the distribution level and grid-scale renewables and storage at the transmission level.
- Key Considerations: Addressing barriers to interconnection and energization to close deployment gaps, improving interconnection and energization processes, and updating policies to support California’s reliability and clean energy goals 1.

2. Transmission Infrastructure and Bulk Grid Interconnections
- Growth Areas: Development of new transmission projects and upgrades/expansions of existing infrastructure.
- Key Considerations: Delays in transmission projects can put multiple gigawatts of renewable and storage resources at risk. Regulatory reforms (e.g., updated CPUC General Order 131-E) aim to accelerate permitting, streamline CEQA processes, and clarify permit exemptions to reduce bottlenecks 2, 2, 3.

3. Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and Customer Load Growth
- Growth Areas: Increased distributed generation, electric vehicles, battery storage, and flexible customer loads.
- Key Considerations: Modernizing Rule 21 and interconnection procedures to ensure grid safety, transparency, and cost containment as new DER technologies move to commercialization. Improving data transparency and customer engagement in distribution planning 4, 5.

4. Interconnection Process Reforms
- Growth Areas: Enhancements to the interconnection process for both bulk grid and distributed resources.
- Key Considerations: Reforms include new cluster study frameworks, prioritization methods ("first-ready, first-served"), improved readiness requirements, and penalties for withdrawal to improve efficiency and transparency. FERC-approved reforms (Order No. 2023, Track 3) facilitate faster progress for mature projects 6, 7.

5. Timely Energization Across Economic Sectors
- Growth Areas: Timely energization is critical for sectors including agriculture, transportation, and industry.
- Key Considerations: Development of energization timelines, customer delay reporting mechanisms, and annual reporting requirements. Bridging solutions like flexible service connections and cost cap increases are ongoing efforts to address energization delays 4.

6. Data Platforms and Customer Interface Improvements
- Growth Areas: Platforms for analyzing grid capacity, load forecasts, DER growth, and planned projects.
- Key Considerations: Improved user interfaces, access to data via maps, APIs, or tables, and new filtering/searching functions to support increased customer usage and facilitate planning 5, 5.

Each area of growth is linked to regulatory updates, process improvements, data transparency, and stakeholder engagement to accelerate California's clean energy transition.

The docket discusses several financial and timeline risks and concerns related to accelerating interconnection and energization in California:

Financial Risks and Concerns:
- There are significant concerns about ratepayer impacts, with recommendations to explore funding to limit burdens on customers as grid upgrades and resource deployments are accelerated 1, 1.
- Cost sharing and responsibility for upgrade costs, especially when load reductions occur, remain areas requiring further clarification and improvement in interconnection procedures 2.
- Utilities like PG&E recommend stricter commercial readiness criteria and financial security postings (such as $4,000/MW) to ensure only viable projects proceed, aiming to reduce financial risk from speculative or stalled projects 3.

Timeline Risks and Concerns:
- There are ongoing and legitimate concerns about current and future energization delays across all major economic sectors, including agriculture, buildings, transportation, and industry. These delays are critical to California’s economy and policy targets 2.
- Maximum timelines for upstream capacity upgrades have been established (e.g., 684 days for a new or upgraded circuit, 1,021 days for a new substation), but further refinement is expected in future proceedings 2, 2.
- The CPUC’s recent decision (D.24-09-020) implements energization timelines and annual reporting requirements, with ongoing efforts to improve transparency and ensure timely service connections 2, 2.
- Transmission project delays pose a substantial risk, with assessments identifying multiple gigawatts of renewable and storage resources at risk due to delayed transmission projects. Key reasons for these delays include permitting challenges and other regulatory hurdles, with median delay times tracked and reported 4, 5.
- There is concern about speculative congestion and delays caused by projects “parking” in the interconnection queue without making progress. PG&E suggests removing the option to pause progress for up to a year without losing queue position and advocates for firm deadlines and withdrawal penalties to keep projects on track 3.

Overall, the docket emphasizes the need for improved process transparency, cost management, inter-agency coordination, and proactive investment in infrastructure to mitigate both financial and timeline risks 1, 1.