NARUC board adopts new interconnection standard

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Board of Directors approved a resolution that recommends state commissions adopt the newly revised interconnection standard for distributed energy resources.

The standard requires a distributed energy resource (DER) to be capable of performing specific grid support measures to ensure that increasing levels of DERs are reliable and visible to grid operators. Implementing this standard can offer economic, reliability, resilience, and environmental benefits to consumers, communities, and utilities.

“The resolution is based on the Minnesota Commission’s experience and it was further developed with review and input from industry leaders, resulting in broad support across the electric sector,” Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioner Matt Schuerger, who offered the resolution, said. “I’m not only happy to have the resolution pass with such broad support, but also proud of the strong leadership the Commission and Minnesota’s Distributed Generation Workgroup are providing in this important national issue.”

The resolution was approved unanimously by the NARUC board at its vote on Feb. 12.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and its Distributed Generation Workgroup are considered to be among the first in the country to adopt and implement the new interconnection standards. Minnesota has national experts, utilities, and DER advocates committed to working to implement the revised standard. Full implementation of Minnesota’s technical requirements for the standard will be aligned with the availability of certified equipment – currently anticipated to be in 2021.