California ISO asks to clarify interconnection process to allow time before financial deadlines

The California Independent System Operator is seeking to clarify its interconnection processes to ensure transmission owners are not being forced to make financial commitments before reviewing queue study results.

CAISO filed a proposal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Sept. 29 to amend deadlines contained in its tariff pertaining to Phase I studies for the grid operator's interconnection queue cluster 14 (ER22-2956).

The grid operator previously sought FERC's approval to extend timelines, among other amendments, as part of its interconnection process following an "unprecedented amount of requests both in terms of the number of applications and MW capacity," it said in its filing. FERC accepted those amendments in September 2021 as CAISO was grappling with the "possibility it would miss tariff deadlines for processing interconnection requests."

Now, the grid operator is seeking to correct some tariff sections, including one that currently results in an overlap between the deadline for submitting initial interconnection financial security for a project and the timeline for interconnection study results meetings being held.

"Without the clarification, in some cases interconnection customers cannot have Phase I study results meetings with the CAISO and transmission owner before they are required to make the required financial commitment," the grid operator said. "This can be problematic to interconnection customers that need information from those results meetings in order to determine whether to proceed with the development of the project and whether to submit the financial security to demonstrate that commitment."

CAISO noted that the conflicting language was "erroneously" carried over from another provision. It also asked FERC to adjust other deadlines to ensure interconnection customers have their Phase I study results meetings prior to the deadline for generator interconnection and deliverability allocation procedures validation.

The change will "not impact the rest of the timeline for cluster 14 or cause any delay," CAISO said.

Seeks greater market transparency

CAISO's proposal comes as FERC is considering potential solutions to help alleviate the significant backlog in interconnection queues across the nation (RM22-14). The current system can result in costly delays for developers seeking to connect renewable energy resources to the grid. The commission proposed a rule containing some potential reforms in June.

Additionally, the grid operator is seeking approval to adjust language in its weekly price correction report to better reflect changes to its process for reporting price corrections. CAISO is implementing improved software to "automate the reporting process, which will enable it to post price correction notices with significantly shorter lag time."

"These proposed changes will facilitate greater market transparency by giving the CAISO flexibility to post the reports on a more regular basis," it said. "As noted, with the pending software enhancements the CAISO intends to post price correction notices on a lag of no more than a few days."

Such revisions are "not intended to change established policies or materially affect the rights and obligations of the CAISO or its market participants," it said.

"These revisions are intended solely to clarify tariff provisions that are unfeasible in practice," CAISO said.

The California grid operator sought a Nov. 29 effective date for its proposals.