Report: DG Interconnections Improve Dramatically in California

California’s Public Interest Energy (PIER) Program has received a final report that provides an analysis of the impacts, costs and timelines for distributed generation interconnection in California.

The new report, “Improving Interconnections in California”, covers four areas.

Evaluating whether California’s Revised Rule 21 has improved the process of interconnection of DG to the electrical system.

Assessing the potential for simplifying Rule 21 further to expand the types of different applications eligible for a “simplified interconnection” and thus improve the cost-effectiveness of interconnection.

Reducing the cost of interconnection below what was experienced prior to the revised Rule 21 by 30% for units less than one megawatt and by 15% for units equal to or greater than 1MW

Reducing the costs associated with delays in approval and installation of interconnection by more than 20% for projects less than 1MW.

As to the project goals listed above, the authors found the following:

The process of interconnection in California has been improved by 83% over a baseline level. The time reduction objective of 20 percent is exceeded every year under the Revised Rule 21 by a large margin since 2000.

Nine DG technology packages – microturbines, fuel cells and induction generators – have been certified to use simplified interconnection procedures.

The weighted average of the cost savings of the DG projects analyzed shows an end-user cost savings of 74% to reach a point of interconnection. This exceeds the target of 30%. The costs associated with delays in interconnection approval and installation have been reduced by more than 20% for projects of all sizes.

Improving Interconnections in California: THE FOCUS II PROJECT – prepared by Reflective Energies, Overdomain LLC and Endecon Engineering for the California Energy Commission, January 2005
New Rules Project’s section on Interconnectionstandards