How to choose a point of interconnection (POI)

What is a point of interconnection?

A point of interconnection (POI) is where a generating facility, storage project or large load connects to the grid: usually a named substation bus, a new switching station or a tap on an existing line, at a stated voltage. The POI in an interconnection request determines which facilities are studied, which network upgrades the project can be assigned, and which other requests it is studied alongside.

Why POI choice carries more weight under cluster studies

FERC Order No. 2023 replaced serial, first-come, first-served queues with cluster studies and a first-ready, first-served standard. Interconnection customers now demonstrate site control, post deposits that rise as a project advances, and face withdrawal penalties when leaving affects other projects (FERC).

That puts more capital at stake before study results arrive. PJM's first cycle under its reformed process closed on April 27, 2026 with 811 projects and 220 GW of nameplate capacity (PJM). Cycle 1 applications required a readiness deposit of $4,000 per MW, alongside a study deposit of $75,000 to $400,000 depending on project size (PJM). See the PJM interconnection queue page for how that process runs.

The long-run record shows why the choice deserves discipline: 13% of the capacity that requested interconnection from 2000 to 2020 had reached commercial operation by the end of 2025, and 75% had withdrawn (Berkeley Lab).

What the public queue record shows at individual POIs

Node-level history rarely looks like the national average. GridVision's public-record retrospectives read the Berkeley Lab project-level dataset one point of interconnection at a time:

• Same-day filings, different outcomes. At Colorado River Substation 230 kV in CAISO, three requests were filed on April 30, 2015. Two reached commercial operation, after 7.5 and 8.5 years; the largest of the three, at 600 MW, withdrew in 2017.
• Filed capacity is not built capacity. At Gates Substation 230 kV in CAISO, seven requests totaled 1,144 MW. One 20 MW battery reached operation, 9.4 years after its request.
• Some nodes resolve very differently. At Sweetwater 230 kV in SPP, four of five requests were built.
• Request structure varies. At Hatfield 500 kV in PJM, the gas project that was built had been filed as three separate requests.

The dataset records outcomes and dates, not reasons. It does not say why any project withdrew, and a pattern at one POI does not transfer to another. Use node history to sharpen diligence questions, not as a forecast.

A decision rule for advancing a POI

Advance a candidate POI to the next commitment only when:

• every comparison field is filled, or each gap has an owner and a due date;
• every material fact has a source and a retrieval date;
• the POI is still preferred after you write down the unknowns that could change cost, schedule or deliverability.

Pause or deprioritize a POI when an unknown that could change the decision cannot be resolved before the next financial commitment: a readiness deposit, a study agreement or a decision point.