Statement From EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler on GRID Power Act for Interconnection Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | February 6, 2025
CONTACT: Christina Nyquist | 603.930.8818 | cnyquist@epsa.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH) and U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Todd Young (R-IN) today introduced legislation that will create an opportunity to quickly connect needed energy resources to the power grid to help meet growing demand and support system reliability, said the head of the national trade group for competitive power suppliers.
As of 2024, more than 2,600 GW of power resources are awaiting clearance in interconnection queues across the country according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Todd Snitchler, President & CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), stated “Significant increases in electricity demand are expected in every region of the country, driven by data centers powering advancements in AI, domestic manufacturing, and the electrification of various sectors of the economy.
Grid operators should be given significant flexibility to address current or future reliability concerns, including the creation of an accelerated interconnection for resources identified as critical to maintaining reliability.
The bill appropriately requires stakeholder feedback and FERC approval before any changes are made, ensuring that all viewpoints are heard. EPSA is grateful to Congressman Balderson and Senators Hoeven and Young for their leadership on this critical issue and his commitment to electric grid reliability.”
While other hurdles including permitting and siting criteria and supply chain snarls impede development, delays in interconnection queues to connect new projects to the electric grid can slow the building of new power infrastructure. By providing the opportunity to speed the connection of dispatchable resources that meet certain reliability criteria, the Balderson/ Hoeven/ Young legislation will help resolve pain points in the interconnection queue and allow competitive power markets to better fulfill their intended goal of procuring cost-effective and reliable electricity.
Full text of the bill can be found HERE.
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The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) is the national trade association representing America’s competitive power suppliers. EPSA members provide about 175,000 MW of reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities using a diverse mix of fuels and technologies including natural gas, wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, storage, biomass, and coal. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers. Learn more at www.epsa.org and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter @EPSAnews.
