Interconnection News | July 13–19, 2025 SPP and Silicon Valley chart parallel paths to proactive interconnection reform

High Level

This week marked a pivotal moment in U.S. interconnection policy as both public and private actors advanced initiatives that move beyond reactive queue management. The Southwest Power Pool unanimously approved its new Consolidated Planning Process, which merges generator interconnection and transmission planning into a coordinated three-year cycle. Simultaneously, Google announced a $25 billion AI-driven infrastructure expansion across PJM Interconnection, using its Tapestry platform to optimize queue management with artificial intelligence. Both efforts reflect a maturing understanding that durable interconnection reform requires systemic alignment across planning, cost allocation, and technological execution.

Full View

SPP unanimously approves Consolidated Planning Process to align GI and transmission planning
• What happened: SPP stakeholders approved tariff revision RR684, establishing a three-year Consolidated Planning Process (CPP) that integrates generator interconnection (GI) studies with long-term transmission planning.
• Who did it: The Southwest Power Pool (SPP), following over 200 meetings with stakeholder groups and engagement with FERC and state regulators.
• Why they did it: To shift from a reactive “request-then-analysis” model to a proactive “ready-to-go” framework that identifies system needs, guides interconnection locations, and balances cost allocation.
• Stakeholder views:
• Sunny Raheem (SPP Director of System Planning): “[We are] aligning cost commitment and collaboration together to aim at the right direction… [CPP] will proactively plan for guiding [requests] to the positions that we really want the interconnection’s request to connect.”
• Steve Gaw (Advanced Power Alliance): “There’s a huge challenge of getting this through at FERC… if it will get us to the point where the administrative part of interconnecting both gen and load is no longer the obstacle.”
• Mike Wise (Golden Spread Electric Cooperative): “We should applaud the SPP staff… I am 100% behind it.”
• Michael Ratliff (Spearmint Energy): “We would appreciate some assurances that SPP will collaborate with developers… [site planning] may limit options for energy storage resources.”
• What happens next: The SPP Board is expected to approve the plan in August. Tariff language will be filed in Q3 2025, with the first CPP cluster study scheduled for April 2026. Stakeholders are now drafting implementation manuals.
RTO Insider, “SPP ‘Blazes Trail’ with Consolidated Planning Process,” July 20, 2025

Google to invest $25B in AI data centers and interconnection optimization across PJM
• What happened: Google committed $25 billion over two years for AI data centers and awarded $3 billion to upgrade two hydropower plants in Pennsylvania under a 20-year “hydro framework agreement” with Brookfield Asset Management that could scale to 3 GW of clean hydropower.
• Who did it: Google; Brookfield Asset Management; Tapestry AI (an Alphabet initiative).
• Why they did it: To address rising electricity demand from AI and data center loads, secure firm carbon-free energy, and use artificial intelligence to accelerate PJM’s interconnection processes.
• Stakeholder views:
• Page Crahan, General Manager of Tapestry: “This is the first time artificial intelligence is being used to manage the entire interconnection queue and process … We are bringing more energy capacity on the grid faster.”
• Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Head of Data Center Energy: “Hydropower is a proven, low-cost technology … offering dependable, homegrown, carbon-free electricity that creates jobs and builds a stronger grid for all.”
• Connor Teskey, President of Brookfield Asset Management: “Our partnership with Google demonstrates the critical role that hydropower can play in helping hyperscale customers meet their energy goals.”
• What happens next: Google will deploy Tapestry’s AI platform to manage interconnection across PJM, beginning with 670 MW of hydroelectric contracts at Holtwood and Safe Harbor and potentially expanding to 3 GW. A White House-backed summit in Pittsburgh will spotlight AI-grid collaborations.
American Bazaar, “Google to spend $25 billion on AI data centers,” July 15, 2025
Brookfield, “Brookfield and Google sign hydro framework agreement,” July 15, 2025
Utility Dive, “Google signs $3B hydro deal to support $25B data center buildout,” July 15, 2025
CNBC, “Google to invest $25B in AI infrastructure across PJM,” July 15, 2025

What’s the So What?

This week’s developments reinforce that interconnection policy is entering a new phase, one shaped by scale, synchronization, and software. Both SPP’s Consolidated Planning Process and Google’s sweeping PJM initiative demonstrate a decisive turn toward preemptive, integrated infrastructure planning, replacing the legacy "first-come, first-served" framework that long governed generator interconnection.

SPP’s CPP marks a structural shift in how transmission and interconnection are treated, not as parallel processes but as a single, strategically coordinated cycle. By anchoring planning around long-term regional visions and proactively allocating costs before generators enter the queue, SPP aims to reduce delays, increase certainty, and deliver more socially optimal grid buildout. The unanimous stakeholder support for RR684 and the multi-year negotiation it reflects signal both technical and political readiness to move from theoretical queue reform to operational execution.

In PJM, Google’s $25 billion AI data center buildout is not just a commercial announcement. It is a direct intervention in the interconnection space. The Tapestry platform, developed under Alphabet, claims to apply artificial intelligence to manage the entire PJM queue and integrate renewable generation more quickly and efficiently. This use of AI in infrastructure governance is unprecedented. That the rollout is paired with firm hydropower contracts and bolstered by federal engagement suggests serious policy alignment. Where SPP is institutionalizing anticipatory planning through manual reform, Google is attempting to automate it through private-sector innovation.

Together, these moves illustrate an emerging interconnection paradigm: proactive, tech-enabled, and built around aligned interests between grid operators, large energy users, and developers. But execution will be the true test. SPP must still secure FERC approval, and Google’s AI promises must translate into measurable throughput gains. Regulatory oversight will need to catch up with software-driven planning tools, and cost allocation frameworks must evolve to support diverse technologies, including storage and load.

Still, the directional signal is clear. Interconnection is no longer a purely procedural choke point. It is becoming a venue for strategic grid coordination and system-level optimization. The actors leading reform are those who treat interconnection as infrastructure policy, not just queue management.

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