FERC Order 2023 — Serial Queue Replaced By First-Ready Cluster Studies Plus Withdrawal Penalties
mechanism
They changed how the queue works — right as the queue started shrinking.
Who they are
FERC Order 2023, issued July 2023 and revised in March 2024[1].
What they do
It scrapped the one-at-a-time queue for batch studies, and made it expensive to hold a place you aren't ready to use.
How it works
Projects are now studied in clusters instead of one by one. Four new requirements: bigger study deposits scaled to size, proof you control the site, a commercial readiness deposit, and penalties for pulling out. Grid operators face penalties too if studies run late[1].
Why it matters
This is the rule operating over the same period the queue fell 10%. Berkeley Lab's own words: it is too early to assess the full impact[2]. So was it the rules clearing out dead wood, or people giving up? Open.
The engine's record — word for word
Docket RM22-14-000, issued 28 July 2023, revised by Order 2023-A on 21 March 2024. Replaces the first-come, first-served serial process with a first-ready, first-served cluster study process in which transmission providers study projects in batches[1]. Four readiness mechanisms are imposed on interconnection customers: increased study deposits scaled to MW size, demonstration of site control, a commercial readiness deposit, and withdrawal penalties; penalties also attach to transmission providers that fail to complete studies on time, per the same explainer. DIRECTLY LOAD-BEARING ON THE QUEUE NUMBERS: this is the rule change operating over the same period in which active queue volume fell 10% (grid_collision). LBNL's own position on attribution is carried verbatim rather than resolved — the reforms are 'important measures to reduce interconnection bottlenecks and enhance grid system reliability, but it is too early to measure and assess their full impact'[2]. Held: rule-driven cleanout and demand-side withdrawal remain competing readings of the same decline.
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