Developers

GridBright consultants have assisted nearly 100 GW of wind, solar, geothermal, storage, and conventional resources through various stages of the grid interconnection process with more than 60 transmission & distribution service providers in all regions of North America – More than 10 GW of such resources are already in operation. In addition, our consultants have assisted several transmission developers, including utilities, with the required reliability and regulatory studies necessary for the design and approval of their transmission projects by regulatory and reliability authorities. We are also increasingly assisting emerging vehicle electric charging and hydrogen filling station developers navigate the complex technical and regulatory requirements of their grid interconnection.

100% of GridBright consultants have more than ten years of experience working in electrical utilities, RTOs/ISOs, and consulting companies, with more than 75% having at least 30 years of experience. Our experts help determine the most suitable interconnection point and prepare and submit the required interconnection applications. We assist projects through all interconnection studies and regulatory approval processes by the transmission & distribution service providers and regulatory agencies, including reviewing and critiquing interconnection study reports and negotiating the project interconnection agreements. In addition, we guide the project through the maze of regulatory and operational requirements, including material modification assessments, after interconnection agreements and until the project reaches operation & beyond, and assist the interconnection risk projects as part of projects’ power purchase agreements or acquisitions.

Elements of our service include:

• Economic studies that broadly compare the commercial suitability of a large number of potential points of interconnection (POIs) as well as estimate the commercial viability of a specific POI
• Automated “injection” studies to estimate the available capacity of large numbers of potential POIs and create the related heat maps
• Pre-application assessments, feasibility level interconnection studies, and interconnection cost estimation before submitting interconnection applications
• Technical assessment for developers based on available Hosting Capacity maps
• Project electrical design, including developing the single line diagram for use in interconnection applications
• Prepare and submit interconnection applications, including project attributes refinements via scoping meeting
• Review study assumptions and run parameters for system impact studies (or equivalent) and facility studies (or equivalent)
• Interpret transmission owner/operators’ interconnection studies and the associated interconnection costs
• Interpret and verify peak and off-peak deliverability assessments
• Protest questionable study results with the transmission owner/operator and, if required, ultimately at regulatory bodies, including FERC
• Assess alternatives to the original interconnection design at the start or in response to various transmission operator studies
• Negotiate project GIAs
• Help with transmission operator interface during project implementation, including the CAISO new resource implementation (NRI) process
• Interpret and manage affected systems studies
• Provide all technical data requirements for material modification assessments (MMAs)
• Perform interim and final deliverability studies for queued or planned projects in CA.

In addition to navigating projects through grid interconnection processes, GridBright has assisted many of its clients with:

• Assessing the interconnection risk of generation projects as part of project acquisitions
• Studying commercial viability of generation projects from congestion/curtailment standpoints
• Providing technical advice and consulting in support of Power Purchase Agreement negotiations
• Developing ASPEN, PSLF, PSS/E, PSCAD, Production Simulation models, and performing related studies.

GridBright consultants have saved their clients hundreds of millions of dollars in grid interconnection costs by helping in selecting the point of interconnection and project size before the interconnection process and through review and proper critique/protest of the interconnection study results. GridBright consultants have also acted as expert witnesses in the related regulatory proceedings.