The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has launched an initiative to support a cohort of state public utility commissions to better understand utility distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection practices and advance solutions that improve transparency, speed, affordability, security, and reliability. Participating commissions will learn practical information and help inform templates, frameworks, and model language developed by NARUC and LBNL for jurisdictions to adapt to their specific circumstances.
The cohort meets monthly, typically on the last Wednesday of the month, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET through September. Individual meeting information, including topics, registration links, and presentation materials (when available) can be found below. Participation in cohort meetings is limited to NARUC member commissions (commissioners and staff). Non-member registrations will be cancelled.
Please reach out to Jeff Loiter at, jloiter@naruc.org, and Grace Relf at, gerelf@lbl.gov, with questions.
- Kickoff Meeting (March 5, 2026): The initial meeting of the cohort included a presentation by Hawaiian Electric about their Customer Energy Resources program and interconnection policies; an overview of the planned cohort activities by Berkeley Labs; and a survey of participants to help set the direction for subsequent cohort meetings.
- Interconnection Queues, Timelines, and Costs - Data Transparency (Wednesday, May 27, 2026): Utility commissions can create a foundation for managing high interconnection costs by collecting data to better understand interconnection-related costs for distribution upgrades and how they impact interconnection customers, as well as other data that support implementation of interconnection solutions. Register now.
- Managing Interconnection Costs Part 1 - Cost Allocation (Tuesday, June 23, 2026): Provide information on how cost allocation approaches affect interconnection costs and timelines, present on various methodologies, and hear from states with experience implementing new cost allocation approaches. Registration forthcoming.
- Managing Interconnection Costs Part 2 - Distribution System Planning and Capacity Expansion Modeling (Wednesday, July 29, 2026): Provide information on how DSP (including capacity expansion modeling) can support efficient effective interconnection, example practices for coordinating interconnection and DSP, and concrete actions participants can take to start or improve coordination of DSP with interconnection-related upgrades. Registration forthcoming.
- Interconnection Standards, Studies, and Commission Processes for Improving DER Interconnection (Wednesday, August 26, 2026): Provide information on interconnection technical standards, study processes, and their importance; and provide examples of the process PUCs have used to establish new standards or otherwise address interconnection issues (e.g. working group processes, proceeding phases and timelines). Registration forthcoming.
- Peer and Expert Coaching on Participant Questions, Follow-Ups from Past Meetings, and Additional Topics (Wednesday, September 23, 2026): Respond to additional needs from participants and address any outstanding questions and topics. Registration forthcoming.