U.S. Grid Interconnection Surges to Record Highs in 2024 Amid Federal Reforms
In 2024, the U.S. energy grid reached a historic milestone, with interconnection agreements surging 33% to a record-breaking 75 gigawatts (GW), driven by new federal regulations aimed at streamlining the process. According to Wood Mackenzie’s report Tracking the Progress of US Grid Interconnection, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order No. 2023—issued in July 2023—played a pivotal role in accelerating interconnection studies by reducing speculative projects and clearing queue backlogs. This regulatory shift, along with reforms from Independent System Operators, has led to faster processing, a 9% decline in new project entries, and a 51% increase in withdrawals of non-viable projects since 2022. Solar and storage technologies dominated the interconnection landscape, capturing 75% (58 GW) of all agreements in 2024—a trend that continues into 2025. Solar alone has accounted for half of all signed agreements since 2019. Meanwhile, natural gas has seen a surge in interconnection requests, adding 121 GW of capacity since 2022, but successful agreements have declined by 25%, particularly in the PJM, MISO, and ERCOT regions. Regional disparities remain a challenge: ERCOT leads in both success rates and processing speed due to its streamlined “connect-and-manage” approach, while ISONE, despite high success rates, suffers from long delays, and CAISO struggles with low success rates due to a high volume of speculative projects. While the reforms are showing early promise, experts like Kaitlin Fung of Wood Mackenzie emphasize that continued efforts are needed to address regional imbalances and ensure sustained progress in modernizing the U.S. grid.
