H.R. 2986 — Expediting Generator Interconnection Procedures Act of 2025

This section provides definitions for nine terms used in the Act: (1) Commission, meaning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; (2) energy storage project, meaning equipment that receives, stores, and delivers energy using specified technologies (e.g., batteries, pumped hydropower) or projects to build out transmission interconnection opportunities; (3) generation project, meaning facilities that generate or inject electricity subject to Commission jurisdiction or related construction or modification projects; (4) interconnection customer, meaning a person or entity submitting an interconnection request; (5) interconnection request, meaning a request to a public utility to interconnect a new generation or energy storage project for interstate transmission or wholesale sales; (6) public utility, having the meaning given in section 201(e) of the Federal Power Act; (7) transmission facility, meaning a facility used for transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce; (8) transmission provider, meaning a public utility that owns, operates, or controls one or more transmission facilities; and (9) transmission system, meaning a network of transmission facilities used for transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce.

This section directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to initiate, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment, a rulemaking to revise the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures (LGIP) and, as appropriate, the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA)—standardized procedures and agreements under FERC regulations at 18 C.F.R. 35.28(f) that transmission providers must offer for interconnecting large generators to the grid—to address inefficiencies in processing interconnection requests for new generation and energy storage projects. The revisions must require transmission providers (1) to use modeling assumptions based on actual resource operating abilities and practices when studying requests; (2) to study requests consistent with the interconnection customer's risk tolerance; (3) to select cost-effective solutions for any identified network reliability needs; (4) to provide interconnection customers with information explaining implementation of those assumptions and solutions; (5) to share and employ queue management best practices, including advanced computing, automation, and standardized study criteria, to expedite results; and (6) to implement transparency and performance measures ensuring timely, cost-conscious construction of necessary network upgrades after executing an interconnection agreement. FERC must issue a final rule not later than 18 months after enactment. The section includes a savings clause preserving FERC's authority under section 205 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824d) to allocate transmission system costs through just and reasonable rates.