How a queue works
Each grid operator or utility keeps a list of connection requests. Each entry usually shows the size, the fuel or project type, the county or substation, and the status.
Some regions study projects one by one, in the order they applied. Federal rules now push most regions outside ERCOT toward studying projects in groups, called clusters. ERCOT runs its own process under Texas rules.
What a queue does and does not tell you
A queue shows where other developers want to build. Many queued projects are later withdrawn, so the list overstates what will be built.
A queue does not show how much room the grid has. Many megawatts queued near a site point to competition for the same lines. Few megawatts do not prove there is spare capacity.
How Voltane uses queue data
Voltane counts the megawatts already in the ERCOT queue near a site. It is one half of the Voltane capacity signal, which is a proxy and never available megawatts. For a Texas site outside ERCOT, the queue figure is shown as unknown, not as zero.
Questions people ask
Is the interconnection queue public?
Grid operators publish queue data, though the level of detail varies. ERCOT, PJM, MISO and SPP each publish their own reports.
Do most queued projects get built?
No. A large share of requests are withdrawn before they reach operation. The exact share differs by region and by year, so check the grid operator data.
Are large loads in the same queue as power plants?
Usually not. Large loads follow a separate process, and public data on them is thinner than data on generators.
Related
More glossary
- What is time to power?
- What is powered land?
- What is a powered shell?
- What is large load interconnection?
- What is a point of interconnection?
- What is queue position?
- What is ERCOT?
- What is an ERCOT load zone?
Need a site, or have one?
Tell us what you need and Voltane finds, reports on and prices candidate sites in ERCOT. Or bring a site you already have for a path-to-power report (by request for now).