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The report examines how grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) can address interconnection bottlenecks in the PJM region, potentially enabling 6.6 GW of new solar, wind, and storage projects by 2027 and providing approximately $1 billion in annual production cost savings.

The report analyzes the impact of a 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) on interconnection costs for onshore wind and solar projects in the U.S. It finds that this credit could reduce overall project costs by 3% for solar and 1.7% for wind. More significantly, the analysis suggests the ITC could have bridged the cost gap for 22 GW of withdrawn projects and 15 GW of active projects across five regions, potentially bringing a total of 26-37 GW of capacity to fruition.

The report argues that rate-regulated utilities use 'self-commitment' to bypass market merit order, running coal plants that are objectively uneconomic and passing the resulting losses to captive customers through state fuel-cost-recovery processes. Using PLEXOS modeling for the MISO region in 2018, the authors find that this practice cost customers $350 million and suppressed regional market clearing prices by 2.4%. The report identifies Cleco and DTE Energy as significant contributors to these distortions and recommends that state regulators disallow the recovery of imprudent, above-market costs to incentivize efficient dispatch.