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Washington, D.C. – March 26, 2025 – U.S. renewable energy developers struggling with transmission interconnection delays now have a clearer path to keep their projects alive—by paying escalating daily fees and proving they have made meaningful progress.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has finalized targeted revisions to its interconnection rules, allowing developers to request limited extensions for key milestones: land acquisition, financial close, and commercial operation date. The extension window is tied to tiered fees that increase each month, according to a FERC order issued earlier this month.
The policy shift comes as a growing number of solar, wind, and battery storage projects face months—or even years—of delays in connecting to the nation’s high-voltage transmission system. Industry data shows that nearly 1,200 GW of renewable capacity was stuck in interconnection queues at the end of 2024, with many projects unable to secure land or financing within the original timeline.
“This is the single biggest regulatory cliff risk we’ve seen,” said Sarah Chen, CEO of GreenGrid Energy, a developer with 8 GW across the Southwest and Midwest. “A delay outside a developer’s control—whether from permitting holdups or capital market conditions—could erase years of investment. The new framework gives us a defined window to complete milestones without losing our queue position, as long as we’re willing to pay a price.”
Fee structure and progress requirements
Under the updated rules, developers can request up to three months of additional time for the land acquisition milestone, provided they have documentary evidence of securing at least 20% of the required land. The extension charges start at $12/MW/day (approximately equivalent to ₹1,000/MW/day) for the first month, rising to $13.2/MW/day in the second month and $14.4/MW/day in the third. If the milestone is not met within the three-month window, the interconnection rights are automatically revoked.
For financial closure, developers can obtain up to six months of extension, subject to the same 20% land documentation requirement. The daily fees escalate from $12/MW/day in the first month to $15.6/MW/day by the sixth month. FERC said the tiered structure is designed to “discourage speculative queueing while giving genuine projects a reasonable chance to reach financial close.”
The longest extension—up to 12 months—is available for the commercial operation date (COD). The fee schedule for COD extensions is still being finalized, but early drafts suggest a base rate of $12/MW/day with increments of $1–2 per month, capping at around $24/MW/day.
Industry reaction and exclusive insight
While the rule change is widely seen as a relief, some developers caution that the cumulative fees could become significant for large projects. A 200 MW solar farm seeking a six-month financial closure extension, for example, would pay roughly $432,000 in fees if the full window is used. “It’s not cheap, but it’s a fraction of the capital already committed to land, equipment, and engineering,” said Michael Torres, a partner at Clean Energy Law Group. “The bigger risk was losing the queue position altogether.”
Exclusive: New data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows that average interconnection queue wait times for renewable projects in the U.S. rose from 2.5 years in 2020 to 4.1 years in 2024. The lab’s latest report, released March 10, highlights that nearly 30% of projects that withdrew from queues cited “inability to secure land” as the primary reason. The FERC extension rules directly address that bottleneck.
Developers must also submit updated security deposits and provide quarterly progress reports to the regional transmission organization (RTO) or independent system operator (ISO) managing the queue. Non-compliance triggers automatic revocation.
What’s next
The revised rules take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, expected in April 2025. FERC has indicated it will continue to monitor fee adequacy and milestone compliance. Industry groups like the American Clean Power Association (ACP) have praised the move but called for further reforms, including faster reformatting of interconnection study processes.
For developers, the message is clear: you can buy time, but you must show tangible progress—and pay for every day you delay.
