The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is directing the state’s electric distribution companies (EDCs) to begin reviewing interconnection applications for distributed energy resources (DERs) in batches as a means of improving the efficiency and transparency of the process, while also ensuring upgrade costs are more fairly allocated, the authority said in a recent draft of its decision on Docket No. 22-06-29RE01.

The Group Study Process, as outlined by PURA’s decision issued January 17, would task utilities with processing interconnection applications from multiple developers operating in a common study area simultaneously rather than sequentially, and allocating grid upgrade costs among that grouping based on how much they benefit from the upgrade.

Connecticut’s current interconnection process requires DER developers to bear the cost of any grid upgrades needed to accommodate their projects, but the new framework from PURA aims for a more equitable cost-sharing.

“One individual interconnecting customer pays the full cost of a distribution system upgrade to accommodate their project, but all prior and subsequent interconnecting customers connected to the distribution system use the previously available or newly enabled hosting capacity without sharing in the upgrade cost,” PURA wrote, describing the existing discrepancy.

Through the Group Study Process, interconnecting customers will be charged on a per-KW of hosting capacity basis so that upgrades are paid for proportionally.

“This approach is more transparent and equitable because it recognizes that some interconnecting customers both contribute more to and benefit more from distribution system upgrades than others and assigns costs proportional to that attribution,” PURA wrote in its decision.

Projects within a common study area will be notified when a Group Study Process is taking place and will have the opportunity to opt out if they choose to.

PURA said it expects to render a final decision on the matter during its meeting February 13. Written comments on the decision are due to PURA ahead of the meeting, on January 31.

Rising costs

Connecticut’s interconnection process and upgrade cost structure has been a concern for stakeholders for years.

Earlier this month, Connecticut-based solar developer Verogy said the company’s 0.975 MW AC solar installation at a former landfill in Windham, CT, is at risk of cancellation due to unexpectedly high costs associated with connecting the project to the local electric grid. While solar projects smaller than 1 MW typically call for electric transmission interconnection upgrades of between USD 50,000 and USD 300,000, the charges recently proposed by Eversource to connect the Windham landfill project to the grid are estimated to be USD 26m.

Verogy’s Head of Marketing and Public Relations Jenna Behan said this week that the company is waiting for action from PURA before moving forward with construction or figuring out what the next steps are.

“With the current interconnection costs, it’s just not feasible to move forward. So we’re waiting to see how that docket shakes out and if there’s any regulatory reform coming down the pipeline,” Behan said.

Substation hosting capacity, in particular, has been an issue in Connecticut, and Behan said Verogy suspected that was the primary reason for the exorbitant interconnection cost estimate.

“The Group Study Process and the associated cost allocation offers a way forward for existing DER applications that have stalled in Connecticut due to a lack of available substation hosting capacity,” PURA wrote in its draft decision. “Several substations in Connecticut already have little to no hosting capacity and the Authority expects that DER saturation will be a growing problem on the state’s path to a zero-carbon electricity sector.”

Plans for the Verogy solar project go back to 2022, when the town of Windham began working with Hartford-based energy consultant TitanGen on a proposal to turn the former landfill into a municipal solar project. TitanGen managed the RFP process for the town, ultimately selecting Verogy for design and construction.

If completed and interconnected, the solar project will provide energy to Windham’s town hall, public safety complex and other municipal buildings, per Verogy. The installation would produce more than 1,939,200 kWh of clean energy annually, the company said.

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