A Record Queue of Solar and Storage Projects Waits to Connect to the Grid
Grid operators cleared more projects than last year, in this illustrative scenario, but new applications outpaced them. The bottleneck in the energy transition is no longer building generation. It is plugging it in.
The Daily Edition Illustrative Desk2 min read
Illustrative. This article is demonstration content written to show The Daily Edition. It does not report actual events. Historical and scientific facts are attributed to real sources in the Deep Dive.
Quick Read · about 26 seconds
- What happened
- In this illustrative scenario, regional grid operators reported that the volume of solar, wind and battery projects waiting for interconnection studies reached a new record, even though reformed study processes approved more projects than in any previous year.
- Why it matters
- Projects stuck in the queue represent capacity that has been financed and often permitted but cannot deliver power. The wait determines how fast the grid changes and what electricity costs.
- What remains uncertain
- Many queued projects will never be built regardless of approval, so the raw queue size overstates the real pipeline. Whether 2023 federal reforms are shortening waits is still being measured.
The cheapest way to add electricity generation in most of the United States is now a field of solar panels paired with batteries. The slowest step is getting permission to connect it. In this demonstration scenario, grid operators reported this week that the backlog of projects waiting for interconnection reached another record.
The numbers come with a caveat that the operators themselves emphasize. A project enters the queue long before it is certain to be built, and historically most withdraw. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which has tracked the queues for years, found roughly 2,600 gigawatts of generation and storage capacity seeking interconnection at the end of 2023, more than twice the capacity of all existing U.S. power plants. Only a fraction will ever operate.
Reforms, and their limits
Federal regulators ordered changes in 2023 requiring operators to study projects in clusters rather than one at a time and to demand financial readiness from applicants. In this scenario, operators said the cluster studies worked as intended, clearing more projects than in any prior year. The queue grew anyway because developers filed even more.
The deeper constraint is transmission. A project can be approved to connect and still wait for the lines needed to carry its power. Building high-voltage transmission takes a decade or more, mostly because of permitting and disputes over who pays.
The Living Story
Rebuilding the Electricity Grid
Record volumes of solar, wind and battery projects are waiting to connect to the grid in the United States while transmission lines and interconnection reviews lag. The bottleneck has shifted from building generation to connecting it.
3 milestones · 1 updates · 2 articles
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Roughly 2,600 gigawatts of generation and storage capacity were seeking interconnection in the United States at the end of 2023.
Fact · confidence high
- Queued Up 2024 edition · Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Grid operators reported a record backlog in October 2026.
Fact · confidence low
- Operator statements (illustrative scenario) · Daily Edition Illustrative Desk(illustrative)This article is an illustrative scenario written to demonstrate The Daily Edition. It does not report actual events.
Related reading
The Grid Queue, in Numbers
A synthetic series showing how a backlog of generation projects could grow even as approvals rise. Demonstration data, clearly labeled, standing in for the real figures the production edition would draw from Berkeley Lab.
1 min read