Virginia Administrative Code › Title 20 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION › Chapter 314 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING INTERCONNECTION OF SMALL ELECTRICAL GENERATORS › Section 20VAC5-314-38 - Queue number and interdependent projects

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Queue number and queue position. The
				utility shall assign a queue number to an interconnection request based upon
				the date-stamp and time-stamp of receipt of a completed Interconnection Request
				Form by the utility. A later received Interconnection Request Form shall be
				assigned a higher numerical queue number than an earlier received
				Interconnection Request Form. The queue number and relative position of each
				interconnection request will be used to determine the cost responsibility for
				the upgrades necessary to accommodate the interconnection.
B. Interdependent projects.
1. Upon an IC's submission of an
				interconnection request for the
				20VAC5-314-40
				Level 1 interconnection process,
				20VAC5-314-60
				Level 2 interconnection process, or
				20VAC5-314-70
				Level 3 interconnection process, the utility shall review the interconnection
				request and make a preliminary determination of whether any interdependencies
				exist between the IC's proposed SGF and any other IC with a lower queue number.
				If the interconnection request is for a standby SGF with zero export, then the
				proposed SGF shall be studied as a Project A. For all other interconnections,
				any preliminary determination by the utility that the SGF does not create an
				interdependency will result in the interconnection request being preliminarily
				designated as a Project A, and the utility shall proceed immediately to either
				the
				20VAC5-314-40,
				20VAC5-314-60,
				or
				20VAC5-314-70
				Level 1, 2, or 3 study process, as applicable. At the
				20VAC5-314-70
				B scoping meeting, the utility shall advise the IC regarding its preliminary
				determination of whether interdependency would be created by the SGF. If no
				20VAC5-314-70
				B scoping meeting is scheduled, then the utility shall notify the IC in writing
				within five business days after making its preliminary determination of whether
				interdependency would be created by the SGF. If applicable, the Project A IC
				will pay the interconnection request study deposit required for the
				20VAC5-314-70
				Level 3 study process as identified in Schedule 6 of
				20VAC5-314-170
				in conjunction with the execution of the initial study agreement delivered by
				the utility pursuant to
				20VAC5-314-70.
				An SGF preliminarily reviewed for system impacts and designated as a Project A
				may still be determined later to create an interdependency and may then be
				redesignated by the utility as an interdependent project during the 20VAC314-70
				D system impact study process, thereby losing its Project A designation. Once
				the system impact study report is issued by the utility and the report
				designates an SGF as a Project A for purposes of the 20VAC314-70 E facilities
				study, the interconnection request shall retain this Project A designation
				during the facilities study, without change.
2. If the utility determines that the IC's
				proposed SGF is interdependent with one other interconnection request with a
				lower queue number (i.e., an earlier submitted interconnection request), the
				utility shall notify the IC in writing or at the
				20VAC5-314-70
				B scoping meeting that the interconnection request is designated as a Project
				B.
a. Following the
				20VAC5-314-70
				B scoping meeting, the Project B IC shall then have the option to either:
(1) Wait without further advancement of the
				interconnection request until Project A has executed a final interconnection
				agreement and begun making payments for any required upgrades, customer
				interconnection facilities, and other charges under 20VAC314-50 F . Under this
				option, Project B is not required to adhere to the timeline in
				20VAC5-314-70
				C until Project A has signed an SGIA and begun making payments or withdrawn its
				interconnection request; or
(2)
				Proceed to the 20VAC314-70 D system impact study process. If the Project B IC
				chooses this option, the utility shall provide the Project B IC a Feasibility
				Study Agreement pursuant to
				20VAC5-314-70
				C or a System Impact Study Agreement pursuant to
				20VAC5-314-70
				D within 10 business days. If the Project B IC signs a System Impact Study
				Agreement and pays the interconnection request study deposit pursuant to
				Schedule 6 of
				20VAC5-314-170,
				the Project B shall receive a system impact study report that assumes the
				Project A interconnection request with the lower queue number completes
				construction and interconnection, and another system impact study report that
				assumes the Project A interconnect request with the lower queue number is not
				constructed and is withdrawn. The Project B IC is responsible for all costs for
				studying with and without Project A.
b. The utility shall not proceed to a Project
				B facilities study until after the Project B IC returns a signed Facilities
				Study Agreement to the utility and the utility has issued the 20VAC314-70 E
				facilities study report for Project A. Once the Project A facilities study
				report has been issued, the Project B IC shall then have the option to either:
(1) Wait without further advancement of the
				interconnection request until Project A has executed a final interconnection
				agreement and begun making payments for any required upgrades, customer
				interconnection facilities, and other charges under 20VAC314-50 F . Under this
				option, Project B is not required to adhere to the timeline in
				20VAC5-314-70
				E until Project A has signed an SGIA and begun making payments or withdrawn its
				interconnection request; or
(2)
				Proceed with a 20VAC314-70 E facilities study process. If the Project B IC
				chooses this option, the utility shall provide the Project B IC a Facilities
				Study Agreement pursuant to
				20VAC5-314-70
				E within 10 business days. If the Project B IC signs a Facilities Study
				Agreement prior to Project A committing to construction by signing the final
				interconnection agreement and beginning to make payments, then Project B's
				facilities study shall assume that the Project A interconnection request with
				the lower queue number will complete construction and interconnection. If
				Project A is later canceled prior to the Project A IC making payment for the
				required upgrades, the utility shall revise the Project B facilities study at
				the Project B IC's expense.
3. If the utility determines that the IC's
				proposed SGF is interdependent with more than one other interconnection request
				with a lower queue number (i.e., an earlier submitted interconnection request),
				the utility shall notify the IC at the
				20VAC5-314-70
				B scoping meeting and describe generally the number and type of
				interdependencies of interconnection requests with lower queue numbers.
a. The utility shall not study a project if
				it is interdependent with more than one earlier queued project. The utility
				will study a project when interdependency with only one earlier queued project
				exists. The removal of interdependency with multiple projects may be the result
				of (i) upgrades to the utility system that eliminate the cause of the
				interdependency, (ii) withdrawal of interdependent projects with lower queue
				numbers, or (iii) a lower queue number project signing an interconnection
				agreement and making payments identified in their SGIA.
b. Within five business days of an
				interconnection request becoming a Project B interconnection request that is
				interdependent with only one other interconnection request with a lower queue
				number, the utility shall schedule the
				20VAC5-314-70
				B scoping meeting and provide the new Project B IC the options specified in
				subdivision 2 a of this subsection. Upon being designated by the utility as a
				Project B, the IC's queue number shall be used to determine the order in which
				the interconnection request is studied under 20VAC314-70 D relative to all
				other interconnection requests.