Western state utility commissioners should encourage “standardization and harmonization” to effectively integrate inverter-based resources throughout the region, according to a guide developed by the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body and Elevate Energy Consulting.

The guide, a “technical resource” intended to assist commissioners, is a follow-up to a report on IBRs commissioned by WIRAB in 2024. Elevate Energy and WIRAB hosted a webinar to discuss the document and its findings Dec. 2.

The report notes that over the next decade, approximately 85% of new generation in the West is expected to be IBRs. If not integrated correctly, this can lead to vulnerabilities in modeling, coordination and operational performance, according to the report.

To correctly integrate IBRs, the industry must focus on “standardization and harmonization,” Ryan Quint, CEO of Elevate Energy, said during the webinar. “In particular, adopting the latest and greatest standards.”

“FERC and NERC have said, ‘We strongly … encourage folks to adopt [IEEE 2800-2022], but we are not mandating it,’ meaning there are no requirements for [the] significant … amount of decisions that need to be made about how we want to configure, control and operate IBRs,” Quint said. “So, unless those requirements are specified, there are potential gaps that exist.”

Encouraging standard adoption of IBRs is especially tricky in the West because many entities are involved in the process, Quint noted.

Other regions may have one ISO or RTO where all the decisions are made with “one central entity responsible for administering that process and following those rules that have been created or imposing those rules,” Quint said.

“In the West, we’ve got dozens and dozens and dozens of planning coordinators, transmission planners, that all have varying sizes, areas of expertise, challenges of their own,” Quint said. “Regional coordination, bringing these entities together in a unified way, is really an important concept, particularly in the West. And that becomes very applicable with the adoption of new standards, the improvement of requirements, the checks and balances that happen during the interconnection process, etc.”

Standardization brings reliability benefits to not only transmission providers, but also developers and contractors, who will have a clearer understanding of the rules, Quint said.

To achieve harmonization, the industry needs a stakeholder-engaged assessment, which would include regional training, support for smaller entities and utility flexibility.

The need to streamline integration of IBRs also applies to large load interconnections, Quint noted.

The technical resource states that commissions “can set expectations, require transparency and ensure utilities are prepared to integrate IBRs without compromising affordability, reliability or resilience.”

The resource suggests seven key focus areas for IBR oversight:

• • enhanced and harmonized interconnection requirements,
  • IBR modeling, data quality and study processes,
  • using modern IBR capabilities,
  • commissioning practices and post-commissioning monitoring,
  • utility operational readiness,
  • coordination and sharing across jurisdictions, and
  • maximizing capabilities of legacy IBR devices.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson, WIRAB’s chair, said the goal of the resource is to “equip regulators with clear, practical oversight tools and the kinds of questions that surface potential issues early, drive meaningful conversations with utilities and ultimately support better outcomes for the Western Interconnection as a whole.”

“NERC and FERC are strengthening standards, but regulatory oversight varies, and some responsibilities fall on our shoulders as commissioners,” Márquez Peterson said. “WIRAB’s role is to help bridge the space between complex technical issues and the regulatory decisions that shape reliability. This resource is one way we can support that mission.”