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In this week\u2019s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Will Gorman, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, about the interconnection queue. The interconnection queue is the waiting list for developers that hope to connect power plants to the electric grid; regulators must first study the potential effects of connecting a plant to the grid before moving forward with a project. Gorman discusses the reasons for recent growth in queue wait times, the costs that are associated with connecting a new power plant to the grid, a new federal regulation that aims to improve the interconnection queue, and additional reforms that could speed up the process of connecting new power plants to the grid.\n\nReferences and recommendations:\n\n\u201cImprovements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements\u201d from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/fact-sheet-improvements-generator-interconnection-procedures-and-agreements\n\n\u201cQueued Up: Characteristics of Power Plants Seeking Transmission Interconnection\u201d by Joe Rand, Will Gorman, Seongeun Jeong, Fredrich Kahrl, Julie Mulvaney Kemp, Ben Paulos, Dana Robson, Jo Seel, and Ryan Wiser; https://emp.lbl.gov/queues\n\n\u201cGenerator Interconnection Costs to the Transmission System\u201d by Jo Seel, Will Gorman, Fredrich Kahrl, Julie Mulvaney Kemp, Dev Millstein, Joe Rand, and Ryan Wiser; https://emp.lbl.gov/interconnection_costs\n\n\u201cBeyond FERC Order 2023: Considerations on Deep Interconnection Reform\u201d by Tyler H. Norris; https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/publications/beyond-ferc-order-2023-considerations-deep-interconnection-reform\n\n\u201cEnergy at the Movies\u201d television program; http://energyatthemovies.com/about/\n\n\u201cThe Art of Energy Efficiency\u201d by Arthur H. Rosenfeld; https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.energy.24.1.33\n\nThe \u201cParable\u201d book series by Octavia E. Butler; https://www.octaviabutler.com/parableseries