Energy Superabundance initiative webinar: Improving Energy Interconnection

Increased electricity demand, rapid energy development, and an aging and inadequate transmission system continue to strain the grid, creating significant interconnection challenges that limit the ability to bring new energy online quickly and restrict opportunities for optimizing or diversifying the grid. Energy project developers often encounter long queues and lengthy delays in securing interconnection agreements, which may be further stalled by high costs and complex permitting requirements. As part of Utah Governor Spencer Cox's WGA Chair initiative, Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West, this webinar explored how improving the interconnection process can reduce queue backlogs, lower development risk, and accelerate the deployment of new energy resources. The discussion featured Darren Buck, a Director of Power Delivery at Platte River Power Authority; Will Gorman, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Steven Johnson, the Senior Director of Markets Administration at Southwest Power Pool; and Sunny Raheem, the Director of System Planning for the Engineering Department at Southwest Power Pool.