FERC has denied SPP’s waiver request to allow the RTO’s interconnection customers without a pending request to ask for interim interconnection service during a period when the study queue cluster’s window is closed.

In an order issued Jan. 3, the commission rejected SPP’s contention, saying its request did not meet FERC’s criteria for granting waivers (ER24-2863).

The commission found SPP’s request does not address a concrete problem because the proposed waiver would not permit entities without an interconnection request to ask for interim interconnection service. It said SPP did not seek a waiver of the term “interconnection customer,” putting it in conflict with tariff language that applies specifically to interconnection customers.

SPP filed the timing waiver request in August 2024. Clean energy associations and investor-owned utilities supported the grid operator’s request, saying it would help SPP clear its interconnection queue backlog in a fair, efficient and expeditious manner and could help provide greater certainty to interconnection customers.