The U.S. interconnection queue held about 10,300 active projects as of the end of 2024, representing roughly 1,400 GW of generation capacity and about 890 GW of storage CITE:E1. Combined, that is nearly 2,300 GW of capacity waiting for approval to connect CITE:E1. Every generator or storage project must apply to a grid operator and pass a series of interconnection studies before it can connect, and projects that have not yet cleared those studies make up this queue CITE:E1.
Solar and battery storage make up the largest shares of queued capacity, at 956 GW and 890 GW respectively as of the end of 2024, with wind following at 271 GW CITE:E2. Natural gas capacity in the queue, by contrast, rose 72% year-over-year to about 136 GW, a jump tied to renewed interest in gas turbines driven by data center electricity demand CITE:E2.
| Resource type | Queued capacity (end of 2024) | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Solar | 956 GW | -12% |
| Storage | 890 GW | -13% |
| Wind | 271 GW | -26% |
| Natural gas | 136 GW | +72% |
While solar, storage, and wind capacity in the queue each declined from the prior year, natural gas moved in the opposite direction CITE:E2.
Median wait times have roughly doubled over two decades: projects completed between 2000 and 2007 took under 2 years from interconnection request (IR) to commercial operation (COD), while projects completed between 2018 and 2024 took over 4 years CITE:E3.
Only 13% of the capacity that submitted interconnection requests between 2000 and 2019 had reached commercial operation by the end of 2024, while 77% of that capacity had been withdrawn from the queue CITE:E4. That leaves a large majority of applications ending in withdrawal rather than a completed connection CITE:E4.
Projects sited where the existing transmission system is weaker require costlier network upgrades, and Berkeley Lab identifies this rising cost to connect as a key factor pushing projects to exit the queue during the study process CITE:E5. Uncertainty over how those upgrade costs get allocated compounds the problem, adding expense and delay before a project ever reaches commercial operation CITE:E5.
Data centers consumed about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023, a share the U.S. Department of Energy and Berkeley Lab project will rise to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028 CITE:E6. That growth trajectory lines up with the 72% year-over-year jump in queued natural gas capacity, which Berkeley Lab links to renewed interest in gas turbines driven by data center demand CITE:E2.
FERC issued Order No. 2023 on July 28, 2023, replacing the historic "first-come, first-served" serial review process with a "first-ready, first-served" cluster-study approach CITE:E7. The order requires generation developers to demonstrate commercial readiness in order to advance through the queue, a mechanism intended to reduce the backlog caused by speculative applications CITE:E7.
The scale of the queue — nearly 2,300 GW combined by the end of 2024 — sits alongside a completion rate of just 13% for projects filed between 2000 and 2019, with 77% withdrawn and median wait times now exceeding 4 years CITE:E1CITE:E3CITE:E4. Into that backlog, AI-driven data center load — already 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023 and projected to reach 6.7% to 12% by 2028 — is adding new pressure, visible in the 72% jump in queued natural gas capacity tied to data center demand CITE:E6CITE:E2. FERC's Order No. 2023, in effect since July 2023, targets the readiness problem directly by requiring developers to prove commercial readiness before advancing through the cluster-study process CITE:E7.
The U.S. interconnection queue held about 10,300 active projects as of the end of 2024, representing roughly 1,400 GW of generation capacity and about 890 GW of…
Solar and battery storage make up the largest shares of queued capacity, at 956 GW and 890 GW respectively as of the end of 2024, with wind following at 271 GW …
Median wait times have roughly doubled over two decades: projects completed between 2000 and 2007 took under 2 years from interconnection request (IR) to commer…
Only 13% of the capacity that submitted interconnection requests between 2000 and 2019 had reached commercial operation by the end of 2024, while 77% of that ca…
The queue's real bottleneck is not new demand but survival odds: of capacity that requested interconnection between 2000 and 2019, only 13% reached commercial operation by the end of 2024, while 77% was withdrawn. That mismatch pre-dates the AI data center boom, but the 72% jump in queued natural gas capacity shows new large loads are now competing for the same congested review process as wind, solar, and storage. FERC's Order No. 2023 cluster-study process, in effect since July 2023, targets exactly this problem by forcing developers to prove readiness before advancing. The metric worth watching next is whether completion rates for projects filed after mid-2023 climb meaningfully above that historical 13% baseline.
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