Glossary
Grid interconnection
The process and approval needed to connect a power plant or a large electricity user to the grid.
Before a new power plant or a large facility such as a data center can connect to the electric grid, the utility or grid operator studies whether the grid can handle it and what upgrades are needed. Projects wait in an interconnection queue while this happens.
These studies and the resulting equipment, such as new substations and transmission lines, can take years. Interconnection delays have become one of the main constraints on new data centers and new power plants, and decide who pays for upgrades.
A data center with land and financing may still be years from operating if it does not have a firm grid connection date.
Read more: our explainer