QF Interconnection

The Coalition’s roots began in 2007 with representation of Sorenson Engineering in the Oregon Public Utility Commission’s interconnection docket AR 521. Utility practices and policies associated with interconnection historically have been a significant factor and often a deterrent in the development of renewable resources. This is still true today despite the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules on small generation interconnections.  

The Staff of the Coalition has supported it's members and their specific project needs on numerous occasions involving projects’ delivery of power and interconnections. These include interconnection agreements, operating problems associated with their interconnections, equipment replacement, billings for service. interconnection facility ownership and cost accounting.

The Coalition has been the most active non-utility party in recent dockets in Oregon that involve interconnection issues and played an important early role in Utah’s development of Rule 746-312. Significant progress on interconnection issues has been made in some states, including requiring the utilities to use standard form agreements, ensuring that the utilities (in certain circumstances) to allow generators to use third party contracts, preventing the utilities from requiring generators to pay for certain unreasonable costs, and limiting the ability of utilities to impose costly insurance and metering on very small generators.

Different states have vastly different policies, and interconnection customers' rights and obligations are not uniform. There are remaining key issues that still need to be adequately resolved. These include, but are not limited to, 1) using interconnection status as a prerequisite to power purchase agreements, 2) not allowing utility certified third party contractors to provide equipment and services for interconnection facilities to be owned by the utility, 3) operation and maintenance reimbursements, 4) interconnection requirements and costs, 5) process and timing of interconnections and, 6) adequate understandable final accounting of costs.  

The Coalition is planning to continue its long-standing pro-active involvement in interconnection related matters for all our member states and their projects.

Key Events

Application for Partial Waiver of OAR 860-039-0030(3) Level 1 Net Metering Interconnection Review. Application of Portland General Electric Company (Expedited Consideration Requested)

01/22/2021 - Staff's Docket Update; filed by Kacia Brockman

06/22/2020 - OREGON PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION STAFF: Request to open a general investigation into interconnection. Staff Report Item No. RA2

FERC Docket No. ER 20-924-00 - PacifiCorp, Revisions to Generator Interconnection Procedures

02/21/2020 - Comments of the Renewable Energy Coalition and Community Renewable Energy Association

02/21/2020 - Comments of Renewable Northwest

02/21/2020 - MOTION TO INTERVENT AND COMMENTS OF RWE RENEWABLES AMERICAS, LLC

12/02/2019 - PacifiCorp's Update on State-Jurisdictional Small Generator Interconnection Applications; filed by Etta Lockey

06/21/2019 - Please see Members Only Section (Coalition Memos, Sanger Thompson Memos) for important UM 2001 Interconnection Data Transparency Memorandum.

06/13/2019 - UM2001: Staff Investigation Into Interim PURPA Action. The Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC or Commission) adopt Staff’s proposal for interconnection data transparency actions by PacifiCorp, PGE and Idaho Power.

02/21/2019 - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Docket No. RM17-8-001; Order No. 845-A. Reform of Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements. ACTION: Order on rehearing and clarification. SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is granting in part and denying in part the requests for rehearing and clarification of its determinations in Order No. 845, which amended the Commission’s pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures and pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement to improve certainty, promote more informed interconnection decisions, and enhance interconnection processes.

04/13/2017 - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Reform of Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements. Docket No. RM17-8-000. Joint Comments of The Community Renewable Energy Association and The Renewable Energy Coalition. 

Future Interconnection Proceedings

Oregon Dockets UM-1967 and UM-1971