GridUnity’s DIGITAL Project Awarded $49.5 Million in Federal Funding to Accelerate Grid Interconnection

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U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program Supports GridUnity’s Efforts to Modernize the U.S. Transmission System

GridUnity is awarded $49.5M by the U.S. Department of EnergyBoston, MA — GridUnity, a leader in grid modernization solutions, is proud to announce that its Digital Integration for Grid Interconnection Tools, Analysis, and Logic (DIGITAL) project has been selected for the second round of funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. This $10.5 billion federal initiative, created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aims to strengthen the nation’s power grid and improve resilience to extreme weather events. The DIGITAL project has been awarded $49.5 million in federal funding, with an equal recipient cost share commitment, for a total project investment of $99 million.

The DIGITAL project will modernize and streamline the grid interconnection process, significantly accelerating the approval and commissioning of new generation projects. By leveraging cloud-based technologies and innovative communication and process improvements, GridUnity’s solution will reduce the time that renewable energy projects spend in interconnection queues by more than a year, unlocking faster access to clean energy across the United States.

“As extreme weather events continue to stress electric systems across the country, the Biden-Harris Administration is using every tool in the toolbox to make sure America’s power grid can provide reliable, affordable power,” said Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy. “GridUnity’s project will notably accelerate the interconnection process, while also lowering costs and increasing energy reliability for customers.”

“Congratulations to GridUnity on this award,” said Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, “In the face of recent hurricanes and other disasters made worse by our changing climate, Massachusetts’ thriving climatetech business sector is crucial for not only delivering jobs and economic benefits but also helping to accelerate our transition to a future clean power grid. GridUnity’s DIGITAL innovative project promises to speed up the integration of new wind, solar, and battery resources from California to Massachusetts, enabling the delivery of reliable, safe, and clean electricity to our communities.”

“Interconnection delays are one of the most significant roadblocks to getting more renewable energy resources onto the grid. Projects take, on average, 30 months to make it through the queue right now. We will compress that timeframe to 18 months initially, with the goal of a 12-month process through further efficiencies over time,” said GridUnity CEO Brian Fitzsimons. “Getting renewable resources onto the grid more quickly will vastly improve our ability to provide clean, reliable power to all Americans.”

Key Features of the DIGITAL Project:

Cloud-Based Centralized Software: DIGITAL will replace fragmented communication and outdated technologies used by regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and transmission owners with a centralized platform, improving communication, collaboration, and adaptability.

DIGITAL Grid Analytics Learning Engine (GALE): The project introduces GALE, an AI-powered tool that enhances cost estimation accuracy, providing transparent and timely analyses to support faster project approvals.

Nationwide Impact: By the fifth year, DIGITAL is expected to directly affect 70% of the U.S. population—around 210 million people—by optimizing transmission grid efficiency, enhancing energy reliability, and reducing consumer energy costs.

Job Creation: Over the five-year term, DIGITAL will create 62 high-tech jobs and 6-8 community engagement roles, while expediting the creation of over 51,000 skilled worker positions in the clean energy sector.

Inclusive Development: The project emphasizes community engagement, ensuring that the benefits of clean energy are accessible and equitable for all. Feedback from local communities will be integrated into infrastructure development to support a transparent and inclusive process.

A Collaborative Effort

The DIGITAL project will be executed in collaboration with multiple stakeholders and the software platform’s data will help inform the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in their efforts to develop and upgrade our transmission and distribution grids across North America.

As part of the GRIP Program’s Smart Grid Grants, this initiative will help modernize the transmission grid, improve resilience against climate threats, and ensure affordable and reliable electricity is available for American communities when and where they need it.

The mission of the Grid Deployment Office (GDO) is to catalyze the development of new and upgraded electric infrastructure across the country by maintaining and investing in critical generation facilities; developing and upgrading high-capacity electric transmission lines nationwide; and deploying transmission and distribution technologies. Learn more at energy.gov/gdo. The U.S. Department of Energy press release on this program and the other 37 programs funded in this $2B tranche can be found here.

 

About GridUnity

GridUnity® is a pioneer in interconnection life cycle management and advanced energy analytics solutions for transmission and distribution. The company is leading the global shift toward highly reliable and responsive renewable and distributed energy resources. GridUnity is the only solution that fulfills FERC Order 2023 with a complete end-to-end digital interconnection process enabling Independent system operators, transmission providers, transmission owners and generation developers to collaborate in real-time throughout the projects’ application review, study, and construction processes which fundamentally changes how the parties can address the country’s energy growth needs. Clients include North American investor-owned utilities and independent system operators serving 37 U.S. states and 50% of the U.S. population. For more information, please visit gridunity.com and for the latest news, follow GridUnity on LinkedIn.

GridUnity Develops Common Intake Program for Electric Grid Load Connection

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GridUnity’s Interconnection Life Cycle Management Platform Will Help Streamline the Process of Handling California’s Load Growth

Summit, New Jersey, June 25, 2024 – GridUnity®, a pioneer in cloud-based interconnection and energy analytics for utilities and transmission service providers, announced that Southern California Edison (SCE) has selected their Interconnection Life Cycle Management (ILCM) platform. As one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, SCE delivers power to 15 million people in 50,000 square miles across central, coastal and Southern California.

GridUnity’s ILCM application is a proven, highly scalable solution that offers the ability to guide utility customers and staff through the tasks, activities, and analysis processes necessary to manage, transact and report on the fulfillment of interconnection requests and support program interactions throughout the process from application intake to electrification. The application’s rich configuration and administrative functions can provide the flexibility necessary to meet the accelerating growth in transportation and building electrification with evolving governmental policies.

Featuring the ability to integrate with existing financial software systems and numerous other programs already in place, ILCM will enable customers to complete and track Service Requests from initiation through completion using the automated self-service portal.

“As we continue to roll out our interconnection software across the U.S., GridUnity has gained extensive experience implementing complex projects that unify processes across multiple stakeholder groups, improving communication, record-keeping, and information sharing,“ GridUnity CEO Brian Fitzsimons said. “As we configure the platform to meet the specific needs of SCE, we are confident that it will speed interconnection, increase accuracy, and reduce manual processing.”

About GridUnity

GridUnity® is a pioneer in cloud-based interconnection and energy analytics solutions for transmission and distribution. The company is leading the global shift toward highly reliable and responsive renewable and distributed energy resources. GridUnity is the only solution that integrates customer engagement, engineering automation and system planning in one unified platform, enabling clients to transform their customer service and operational model. Clients include North American investor-owned utilities and independent system operators serving 37 U.S. states and 50% of the U.S. population. For more information, please visit gridunity.com and for the latest news, follow GridUnity on LinkedIn.

Southwest Power Pool Selects GridUnity for Interconnection Life Cycle Management

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GridUnity will provide an end-to-end management solution for all interconnection applications, cluster study management, and infrastructure coordination

Boston, Mass, February 26, 2024 – GridUnity®, a pioneer in cloud-based interconnection and energy analytics for utilities and transmission service providers, announced that Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) serving the central U.S., has selected their Interconnection Life Cycle Management (ILCM) platform to improve speed, transparency, and data management for all generation interconnections. SPP ensures the reliable supply of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale electricity prices for a 552,000-square-mile region across seventeen U.S. states.

The GridUnity cloud solution runs on AWS and is architected to foster the collaboration among grid stakeholders required to streamline communication, support transparent processes, track activity commitments, and ensure accountability for the end-to-end interconnection life cycle. The ability for developers, grid service providers, and grid infrastructure contractors to share data and documents and to agree on milestones and timelines on a single platform accelerates the interconnection process and reduces the backlog. This platform includes multiple groups within each organization as well as third party contractors that are used to augment and support components of the interconnection process.

The GridUnity SaaS solution automates information collection and validation, ensures data accuracy, and accelerates collaboration by supporting grid impact analysis and network cost estimates, managing allocation procedures and payments, tracking cluster queue decisions and interconnection agreements, and maintaining documentation throughout the commercial operation of the resource.

 “GridUnity is using AWS to help scale and innovate cloud-based software that helps bring more renewable energy resources to the grid with enhanced security and network reliability,” said Howard Gefen, General Manager – Energy & Utilities, AWS. “We are pleased to help GridUnity to support the acceleration of SPP’s renewable interconnection process.”

 “We are thrilled to help Southwest Power Pool and its members drive industry innovation by deploying our proven ILCM solution,” said Brian Fitzsimons, GridUnity CEO. “AWS offers great scalability and enables us to provide increasing levels of service to our customers. We are excited to address the challenges of transitioning to a low-carbon electric grid by delivering an end-to-end solution that makes it easier for ISOs and RTOs like SPP to manage their existing resources and plan for a rapid grid transition while continuing to deliver the safety and reliability their customers and regulators expect.”

About GridUnity

GridUnity® is a pioneer in cloud-based interconnection and energy analytics solutions. With advanced grid planning and operations capabilities, the company is leading the global shift toward highly reliable and responsive renewable and distributed energy resources. GridUnity is the only solution that integrates customer engagement, engineering automation and system planning in one unified platform, enabling clients to transform their customer service and operational model. Clients include North American investor-owned utilities and independent system operators serving 37 U.S. states and 40% of the U.S. population. For more information, please visit gridunity.com and for the latest news, follow @GridUnity on Twitter or LinkedIn.

GridUnity Chosen by Entergy’s Utilities to Manage the Interconnection of Distributed Energy Resources

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Cloud-based platform will make it faster and easier to bring distributed-scale renewable energy and battery storage online

GridUnity announced today that Entergy Services, LLC has selected the company’s cloud-based Interconnection Lifecycle Management software product to streamline the interconnection process for distributed energy resources. Entergy delivers electricity to approximately 3 million customers through five operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

GridUnity’s platform was selected to simplify and accelerate the process of adding distributed energy resources including solar power and energy storage to the grid. The GridUnity platform provides the flexibility and scalability to address the full lifecycle of the interconnection process and will enable standardized automation across all jurisdictions resulting in a consistent experience for Entergy’s five utilities and their respective customers.

With the GridUnity tool, applicants receive immediate, automated feedback if an entry is incomplete, ensuring all submitted applications meet established standards. Entergy staff will now be able to review and respond to submitted applications in less time than was previously required, providing guidance throughout the rest of the interconnection process. Use of the GridUnity tool will create a more transparent and near-real-time interconnection queue, freeing Entergy’s engineers and other employees involved with the interconnection process to spend more of their time addressing the higher-value needs of customers.

“Over the past five years, through our work with numerous utilities, we’ve been able to hone our platform to perform notably better than legacy tools and processes,” said Brian Fitzsimons, CEO of GridUnity. “Our goal is to help move the industry forward through technology innovation that allows for increased penetration of distributed energy resources. The ability to streamline interconnection processes is one of the keys that unlocks access to the future of energy.”

Transforming the experience for interconnection applicants, the GridUnity platform brings increased efficiencies to Entergy’s processes. Having access to up-to-the-minute information helps ensure customers and other stakeholders stay up to date on their interconnection status while Entergy staff can process interconnection requests more quickly. The adoption of a single consistent format for submission of data and supporting documentation also creates a predictable and repeatable experience for users.

About GridUnity

GridUnity® is a pioneer in cloud-based distributed energy analytics solutions. With advanced grid planning and operations capabilities, the company is leading the global shift toward highly reliable and responsive distributed energy operations. GridUnity is the only solution that integrates customer engagement, engineering automation and distribution system planning in one unified platform, enabling clients to transform their customer service and operational model. Clients include North American investor-owned utilities and independent system operators serving 20 U.S. states and 30% of the U.S. population. For more information, please visit gridunity.com and for the latest news, follow @GridUnity on Twitter or LinkedIn.

MISO’s Generator Interconnection Queue cycle set new record (using the GridUnity platform)

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Renewable applications continue to surpass other resource types

CARMEL, Ind. — This year, MISO received another record-setting number of submittals during the 2022 Generator Interconnection Queue (GIQ) application period. The interconnection requests included 956 applications representing approximately 171 GW of new generation across the MISO footprint – 164 GW (or 96 percent) of which are renewable or storage resources. Last year queue applications totaled 487 for 77 GW.

The 2022 submittals exceeded the previous all-time high for a third year in a row. The volume of requests reflects an acceleration of the resource transition, a trend identified in MISO’s Renewable Integration Impact Assessment (RIIA) and by initial trends identified in the Regional Resource Assessment. MISO refers to the joint responsibility to ensure this transition occurs in a reliable and orderly manner as the Reliability Imperative.

“At this point, we are experiencing exponential growth in the queue,” said Andy Witmeier, director – resource utilization at MISO. “The current applications continue to be heavily weighted with renewables and standalone storage requests again tripling the amount submitted the previous year.”

Solar projects (84 GW) continue to represent the single-highest category this year followed by hybrid projects (34 GW) and storage projects (32 GW).  Wind projects totaled about 14 GW.

In July, MISO’s board approved 18 transmission projects representing $10.3 billion in new investment through Tranche 1 of its Long Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) effort. These projects will add significant new transmission capacity to the grid and will be included in the 2022 GIQ studies.  Additionally, Congress’ approval of the Inflation Reduction Act increases the production tax credits available to renewable energy sources.

“These numbers continue to represent the seismic shift occurring on the electric grid highlighting a rapid resource transition to renewable energy,” said Witmeier. “It seems the LRTP Tranche 1 approval and Inflation Reduction Act have spurred additional interest this year by enabling and incentivizing new resources to come online. We are working with our stakeholders on the additional regional transmission needed to accommodate this resource shift.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently approved MISO’s plan to expedite interconnection timelines for new generators. FERC also cited MISO’s new approach as a positive example in its recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to improve queue processes across the country.

The MISO queue currently consists of 769 projects totaling 118 GW – 97% percent of which is renewable or storage. If all the projects submitted this year are accepted as valid applications, the MISO queue would balloon to 289 GW.  Preliminary insights into this year’s applications results are available on the MISO website. Subject matter experts will share details about the 2022 GIQ cycle at the bi-monthly Interconnection Process Working Group meeting on October 10, 2022 at 11:00 am ET.

MISO uses GridUnity software to manage interconnection applications and says “This surge of applications is enabled by MISO’s ability to accept applications with greater efficiency. “

Read the press release on the MISO website.

GridUnity Joins the U.S. Department of Energy in Improving Clean Energy Grid Interconnection

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US Department of Energy Interconnection Innovation ExchangeJune 7, 2022 – Boston, Massachusetts  – Today, pioneering distributed energy analytics platform provider GridUnity issued a statement of support for the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement of a new partnership aimed at improving interconnection of clean energy resources. The Interconnection Innovation Exchange (i2X) “develops innovative solutions to enable faster, simpler, and fairer interconnection of solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage, while enhancing the reliability and resilience of our nation’s distribution and transmission grid networks.” GridUnity is a proud i2X Inaugural Partner.

The process of interconnecting a renewable energy and/or storage project with electric transmission lines is currently expensive and time-consuming. Developers often submit numerous applications to identify prospective interconnection costs in a process referred to as “rate discovery”. Applications must then undergo a costly group study to determine what neessary grid upgrade costs will be amortized across the group of projects, after which many prospective projects will be dropped, at which point a study must be performed again with the smaller/new group. Each study adds significant expense and project delays, costing developers up to $640,000 (on average around $270,000), and taking at least 90 days to complete.

GridUnity works with IOUs and RTOs/ISOs to reduce these costs and delays by performing continuous Hosting Capacity Analysis on every node on their distribution grid, allowing developers to easily identify locations with enough capacity for their project to interconnect. Through experience with customers such as PG&E, GridUnity has seen that once this technology is in place, interconnection applications become more targeted and less iterative by providing developers with easy access to the information they need to  right-size projects based on the available capacity of specific circuits. This kind of best practice will be shared by i2X through broad stakeholder engagement, data collection and analysis, strategic roadmap development and technical assistance.

GridUnity CEO Brian Fitzsimons, an invited speaker at today’s i2X launch event with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, said “GridUnity’s success has been built in large part on making the interconnection process more transparent, faster, and less costly for developers, IOUs, and ISOs/RTOs. We look forward to collaborating with DOE, the national labs, and all of the i2X partners to develop a roadmap to simplify the interconnection process for all.”

 

About GridUnity

GridUnity® is a pioneer in cloud-based distributed energy analytics solutions. The company’s advanced grid planning and operations capabilities are leading the global shift toward highly reliable and responsive distributed energy operations. GridUnity is the only solution that integrates customer engagement, engineering automation, and distribution system planning in one unified platform, enabling innovative clients to transform their customer service and operational model. Clients include North American investor-owned utilities and independent system operators serving 17 U.S. states and 20% of the US population. For more information, please visit gridunity.com, and for the latest news, follow @GridUnity on Twitter or LinkedIn.

GridUnity Proposal Included in The CLEEN Project Database of Ideas for U.S. Leaders to Combat Climate Change, Advance Climate Justice

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The Clean Economy Employment Now (“CLEEN”) Project was created through a collective of more than 200 contributors and 70 Advisory Board members from the private sector, federal and state government, environmental justice organizations, and leading climate-focused think tanks who share a desire to help catalyze job creation and a 21st century clean and just economy.

The CLEEN Project today announced the launch of our nation’s first co-operative database of actionable ideas to combat climate change, Build Back Better, and advance climate justice. Designed specifically for federal leaders, the database is searchable by the Biden-Harris administration’s “Build Back Better” industry verticals, governmental authority, and specific types of governmental action, such as public-private partnerships, procurement, tax credits, and White House-led initiatives.

“Federal climate leaders now have access to a first-of-a-kind database of concrete, actionable policies to rapidly ‘Build Back Better.’ Many of Clean Energy for Biden’s 13,000 volunteers contributed to The CLEEN Project to build this inclusive and robust database for tackling carbon pollution while supporting a clean economy.”

Nidhi Thakar, The CLEEN Project Advisory Board Member; Co-Chair, Clean Energy for Biden; Former Senior Advisor for Loan Programs Office, US Department of Energy 

The GridUnity proposal to “Develop electric vehicle charging stations in rural & disadvantaged neighborhoods to ensure equitable access, revitalize public transportation and create jobs” was vetted by over 70 climate and energy leaders and selected as one of 180 projects shared with the U.S. federal government.

“There now exists a common home for climate solutions that dramatically eases idea discovery and sharing by federal leaders and helps amplify the great work of climate-focused think tanks, environmental justice organizations, private sector actors, and policy experts. This new and inclusive home is the result of the commitment and enthusiasm of hundreds of climate leaders and experts who want to help the Biden-Harris Administration tackle some of our nation’s most pressing problems.”

Jeffrey Tannenbaum, The CLEEN Project Advisory Board member; Founder, sPower LLC

We are honored that our project has been included in this first-in-the-nation database. Click here to read The CLEEN Project press release. Read Bloomberg Green coverage of the database launch here. Learn more about The CLEEN Project and see the database on their website.

MISO receives record-breaking amount of Generation Interconnection Queue Applications – through GridUnity tool

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The online self-serve application tool GridUnity developed and deployed for MISO streamlines the process for applicants and for MISO

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) announced on August 3 that the 2020 Generation Interconnection Queue (GIQ) application process yielded the largest amount of annual requests in new generation in the company’s history. According to MISO:

This year, MISO Interconnection Customers submitted 353 applications representing approximately 52 GW of new generation across the MISO footprint – 36 GW (or 69 percent) of which is solar. The requests exceed the previous all-time high of 47 GW in 2007 and, most recently, 44 GW in 2019.

These record-breaking GW requests were processed via the new tool that GridUnity developed for the ISO/RTO, which serves 42 million Americans located primarily in the Midwest and Southern U.S. MISO’s press release says:

MISO successfully launched a new application tool for the GIQ process in May of this year and worked with member companies for more than a month to ensure that all applications were submitted successfully by the June 25, 2020, deadline. There was also a thorough, month-long review process to correct any deficiencies in submittals. Overall, member companies reported a positive experience with the new tool.

We couldn’t be prouder of this successful launch. Click here to read the MISO press release in full.

GridUnity Named in the Top 10 Transmission & Distribution Solution Companies for 2020 by Utilities Tech Outlook

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GridUnity has been named to the Utilities Tech Outlook Top 10 for 2020 in the Transmission and Distribution Solution Companies category. In compiling the list, the publication notes that the rise of distributed energy resources (DER) is changing the energy landscape, and digital innovations “…hold the key to solving numerous challenges encountered by the utilities.”

Read the article here.

GridUnity Certified Compliant with Cybersecurity Standard

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Independent Audit Verifies GridUnity’s Information Security Controls and Processes using NIST 800-171

BOSTON, MA, – May 5, 2020 – GridUnity, developers of a software platform used by Independent System Operators and electric utilities to manage customer interconnections and perform advanced grid planning, today announced that they have received their Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance audit, passing without a single compliance issue. GridUnity’s software enables the intelligent incorporation of renewable energy sources into the electric grid. This audit verifies that GridUnity ensures the highest level of data security by following a stringent set of baseline security controls from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171.

GridUnity’s final compliance report on FISMA documents the physical, administrative, and technical safeguards they have implemented, the effectiveness of their risk management strategy, and how their controls achieve FISMA compliance. KirkpatrickPrice, a licensed CPA firm, helped GridUnity through the process of achieving compliance with FISMA, using NIST SP 800-171, and developing a maintenance plan to ensure that the company remains in compliance on an ongoing basis. Annual audits will ensure that GridUnity continues to follow current best practices.

NIST is responsible for developing standards and guidelines to ensure adequate information security for all U.S. federal agency operations and assets. However, the guidelines developed by NIST are not just for federal agencies but are designed to be used as guidance to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within the information systems of nonfederal organizations.

“Attaining compliance is not a trivial undertaking, but we prioritized it and allocated the resources necessary to achieve it because we believe that energy data security is, and will continue to be, a critically important issue for utilities,” said GridUnity CEO Brian Fitzsimons. “Protecting our clients’ data with this level of attention to detail and care demonstrates that we share their concerns, which is why they trust us with their information and their customers’. It’s also one of the ways in which we distinguish ourselves in the market, as we are the only provider we know of who has achieved this milestone.”

“FISMA is a stringent framework built on guidelines issued by NIST,” said Joseph Kirkpatrick, Managing Partner with KirkpatrickPrice. “GridUnity’s clients, representing some of the most innovative utilities in the country, will be pleased to know that they have taken this step towards assessing and managing their risks while creating an increased awareness of information security.”