Interconnection queue guide · ERCOT
ERCOT interconnection queue
How ERCOT's generation interconnection studies work, what a developer files and when, and what the public record shows for Texas requests.
GridVision AI ResearchPublished Updated
ERCOT at a glance
- Rulebook
- ERCOT is not FERC-jurisdictional. Generation interconnection follows ERCOT Planning Guide Section 5 and the Nodal Operating Guide, under Public Utility Commission of Texas oversight.
- Studies
- Planning Guide Section 5.3 names the security screening study (5.3.1), the full interconnection study (5.3.2), the ERCOT economic study (5.3.3), the reactive study (5.3.4) and the quarterly stability assessment (5.3.5).
- What you file
- An interconnection request through the RIOO-IS application, with separate paths under and over 10 MW; resource asset registration forms for transmission-connected resources; dynamic model templates with model quality test reports under Planning Guide 6.2(5); and a battery request-for-information template for projects with storage.
- Agreement
- The standard generation interconnection agreement dated November 6, 2025 took effect on January 1, 2026.
- Network upgrades
- Trade press describes ERCOT's approach as connect and manage: studies focus on the local upgrades needed to connect, and congestion is handled through redispatch and curtailment rather than assigning broad network upgrade costs to the generator.
- Public record
- ERCOT publishes a monthly generation interconnection status report, and since March 2026 a companion transmission interconnection costs report covering transmission-level generators energized in the previous month.
Sources: ERCOT Planning Guide, Section 5 (July 1, 2026); ERCOT, Resource Integration; ERCOT, Resource Adequacy (Generation Interconnection Status report); Utility Dive, “Can ERCOT show the way to faster and cheaper grid interconnection?” (trade press).
Facts checked September 18, 2026.
How the ERCOT process works
ERCOT's Planning Guide sets the generation interconnection sequence:
- 01Submit the interconnection requestFiled through RIOO-IS; Planning Guide Section 5.1.1 sets which projects and modifications use this process.
- 02Security screening studyPlanning Guide Section 5.3.1.
- 03Full interconnection studyPlanning Guide Section 5.3.2, with proof of site control (5.3.2.1) and a study scoping process (5.3.2.2); it covers steady state, short circuit, dynamics and facilities.
- 04Reactive study and quarterly stability assessmentPlanning Guide Sections 5.3.4 and 5.3.5.
- 05Registration and modellingResource asset registration forms, dynamic models and model quality test reports.
- 06Interconnection agreement, commissioning and energizationUnder the standard generation interconnection agreement effective January 1, 2026.
Section numbers are from the July 1, 2026 Planning Guide; ERCOT revises it on a rolling schedule, and the current version governs any live project. Large loads of 75 MW or more follow a separate ERCOT process.
Sources: ERCOT Planning Guide, Section 5 (July 1, 2026); ERCOT, Resource Integration; ERCOT, Large Load Integration.
What the public record shows at ERCOT points of interconnection
Across the 19 ERCOT points of interconnection GridVision has published so far, the Berkeley Lab dataset records 92 interconnection requests filed between 2013 and 2025.
| Outcome | Requests | Capacity (MW) |
|---|---|---|
| Reached commercial operation | 42 | 7,838 |
| Withdrew | 35 | 10,029 |
| Still active | 15 | 3,713 |
| Total | 92 | 21,579 |
For the requests that were built, the median time from request to commercial operation was 4.1 years. For those that withdrew, the median time from request to withdrawal was 2.6 years.
These 19 nodes are not a random sample of ERCOT, and a pattern at one point of interconnection does not transfer to another. The dataset records what happened, not why.
| Point of interconnection | State | Requests | Built | Withdrawn | Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amos Cr 345 kV | Texas | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Asherton 138 kV | Texas | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Bakersfield 345 kV | Texas | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Cenizo 345 kV | Texas | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Clear Crossing 345 kV | Texas | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Divide 345 kV | Texas | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Hillje 345 kV | Texas | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| King Mt 138 kV | Texas | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Krum 345 kV | Texas | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Lamesa 138 kV | Texas | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Long Draw 138 kV | Texas | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Peters 138 kV | Texas | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Pinto Creek 138 kV | Texas | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Pomelo 345 kV | Texas | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Sam Switch 345 kV | Texas | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Schneeman Draw 345 kV | Texas | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Tesla 345 kV | Texas | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Twin Buttes 345 kV | Texas | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| White River 345 kV | Texas | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Questions to answer before advancing a ERCOT queue position
- Which study is the project waiting on, and what would change its result?
- If congestion is managed by curtailment rather than by upgrades, what curtailment does the revenue case assume?
- What does the site control evidence have to show before the full interconnection study?
- Which unknowns could change the answer, who owns each one, and when will it be resolved?
Related reading
Weighing whether to advance a ERCOT queue position?
Bring the decision, and get back a management-ready decision record: what is verified, what is assumed, what is still unknown, and what to do next.
Bring One Live DecisionSources
- ERCOT Planning Guide, Section 5 (July 1, 2026)
- ERCOT, Resource Integration
- ERCOT, Resource Adequacy (Generation Interconnection Status report)
- ERCOT, Large Load Integration
- Utility Dive, “Can ERCOT show the way to faster and cheaper grid interconnection?” (trade press)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Queued Up: 2026 Edition (CC BY 4.0)
Facts checked September 18, 2026. Process rules and queue data change; the governing tariff, manuals and study documents control any live project.