- [Episode #287] – Clearing the Connection Queue

Around the world, renewable energy and storage projects are waiting years in queues before they can come onto the grid. Even as the energy transition accelerated, many of these queues continued to run on the conventional first-come, first-served basis. So speculative proposals could get ahead of projects that were practical to build, providing a headwind on how fast the transition could move.

Britain is one example, where in December 2025, its National Energy System Operator (NESO) told a committee of Parliament that 70% of the projects in its queue would never be built. Nine months later, Britain’s Minister for Energy told another committee that the connection dates many projects had been holding were “a work of fiction in most cases.”

What would it take to get real projects onto the grid faster, so that they can cut carbon emissions and make our energy supply more sustainable? A version of that question is under debate in the US as this episode is released. Congress is considering a wide-ranging bill on permitting and the power grid, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), which, among other changes, would reform interconnection queues to discourage speculative projects.

In this episode of our documentary series, we look at the reforms and proposals in Britain, the US, Europe and Australia for getting projects through these queues faster and building the power lines they need, drawing on public recordings and episodes featuring conversations with our host Chris Nelder. We’ll hear why, nearly a decade ago, a state utility commission could tell a company that wanted to build a multi-state power line that it couldn’t even apply for a permit, because it had no customers in that state. And we’ll hear about tenants in the German city of Neumünster who have spent two years looking at the solar panels on the roofs of their buildings, still waiting for the local grid operator to connect them.

Featured in this episode, with titles as they were at the time of each recording:

Public recordings: excerpts from official proceedings, in the order we hear them:

* Claire Dykta, Director of Strategy and Policy at NESO, giving evidence to the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee, December 3, 2025

* Michael Shanks MP, UK Minister of State for Energy, giving evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, September 2, 2026

* Tristan Kessler, Office of Energy Policy and Innovation (since disbanded), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, presenting the draft final rule that became Order No. 2023 at FERC’s open meeting, July 27, 2023

* Rob Gramlich, founder and president of Grid Strategies, and Michael Skelly, co-founder and CEO of Grid United, testifying at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy hearing “Wires, Rates, and States,” chaired by Bob Latta, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, May 13, 2026

The two committee recordings are by the UK Parliamentary Recording Unit, used under license, with our thanks. The FERC meeting and the House hearing are public domain.

Energy Transition Show episodes: excerpts, in the order we hear them:

* Liza Reed, research manager for low carbon technology policy at the Niskanen Center (currently its Vice President of Policy), on Episode #161 (2021)

* Alexandra Klass, Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School (currently at the University of Michigan Law School), on Episode #50 (2017)

* Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, on Episode #227 (2024)

* Tara Connolly, Programme Lead for Energy Markets and Grids at Beyond Fossil Fuels, on Episode #279 (2026)

* Chris Bowen, Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, and Tristan Edis, Director of Analysis and Advisory at Green Energy Markets (currently its CEO), on Episode #246 (2024)

Sources and licenses for this episode, including the full recordings, with our excerpt times.