Vol. 17, No. 8

The Proof of the Interconnection Reform is in the... Data 

by Laurel Passera and Chelsea Barnes
 

Interconnection reform is the hottest new dish on the regulatory menu. Discussions are currently ongoing in Illinois and North Carolina, following the path-charting decisions in Hawaii, California, Massachusetts and Ohio over the past two

years. It's no surprise either; reforming

interconnection procedures that are no longer suitable for today's rapid solar adoption rates can be a win-win situation for both developers and utilities. Still though, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We went in search of some concrete evidence that these new reforms are having a positive effect on the interconnection process. But first, a bit more background on the interconnection reforms. 

A few key states experiencing high penetrations (MA, CA and HI) have recently tackled reform of their interconnection procedures out of necessity.  These states were starting to see more and more distribution circuits with distributed generation (DG) penetration levels surpassing 15% of peak load.  This 15% penetration limit is one of the most important benchmarks for screening whether a DG 

Continued at irecusa.org