The PUC had issued an initial rule in March that had required a non-refundable interconnection fee of $50,000 per megawatt of contrahttps://citiesservedbyoncor.org/?p=3296&preview=truected peak demand. That provision was removed from the final rule.
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New large load interconnection standards — but without a initially proposed non-refundable interconnection fee — were approved Sept. 18 by the Texas Public Utility Commission.
The PUC had issued an initial rule in March that had required a non-refundable interconnection fee of $50,000 per megawatt of contracted peak demand. That provision was removed from the final rule.
The rule, as proposed, also established tiers for interconnection study fees based on project size. By contrast, the adopted rule establishes a flat $100,000 study fee for all large load customers. “As more data becomes available relating to study costs, the commission may amend the rule to update the study fee amount that is required,” the PUC wrote.
Some industry observers had noted that the rules, as initially proposed, had contained financial requirements that exceed those of other U.S. grid operators. However, the PUC diluted the load requirements just as the state is pausing data center interconnections upon the request of Gov. Greg Abbott. All else equal, the final adopted rules will reduce barriers for data center interconnections beyond what operators would have expected from the initial proposed rules.
According to Utility Dive, an online publication, the final rule also softened the PUC’s proposed standards for when an interconnecting Distribution Service Provider or Transmission Service Provider “must notify ERCOT of the large load customer’s non-utilized capacity” if the customer missed scheduled energization milestones.
As noted by Utility Dive, the rules as proposed said ERCOT must be notified no less than 30 days after a milestone was missed by six months. However, the final rules allow for 24 months. “Within 60 days of providing the notice to ERCOT, the interconnecting DSP or TSP must apply the large load customer’s financial security to any outstanding amounts owed, and then return the balance to the large load customer,” the adopted rule states.
The proposed rules had required the DSP or TSP to refund only 20 percent of its financial security to the large load customer, and then apply the remaining security to any outstanding amounts owed, and as an offset to the TSP’s rate base in its next rate proceeding.
More information can be found on the PUC website, under PUC Doc. No. 58481.