High Level
This week saw dual signals of progress in interconnection
planning—one institutional, one academic. Xcel Energy announced a major
platform upgrade in Colorado, selecting GridUnity’s software to manage the
entire generator interconnection process and comply with FERC Order 2023.
Meanwhile, a new peer-reviewed study examined how different array
interconnection schemes perform under partial shading, offering empirical
insights that could improve system efficiency. Together, these developments
suggest a growing alignment between software modernization and design-level
decisionmaking—each crucial for unlocking next-generation grid access.
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Xcel Energy adopts GridUnity platform to automate
interconnection management in Colorado
• What happened:
Xcel Energy selected GridUnity’s GridInterConnect platform to manage the full
lifecycle of large-generation interconnection requests for Public Service
Company of Colorado (PSCo).
• Who did it: The
move was announced by GridUnity and confirmed by Xcel Energy’s OATT Program
Manager Kevin Pera.
• Why they did it:
The goal is to modernize and streamline PSCo’s interconnection process in
compliance with FERC Order 2023, amid rising interconnection volumes across the
Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC).
• Stakeholder views:
• Kevin Pera (Xcel Energy):
“We are transforming how we manage both
interconnection and transmission planning... GridUnity’s
platform offers the automation, transparency, and coordination required to keep
projects on track.”
• Brian
Fitzsimons (GridUnity CEO): The collaboration “builds on
our shared commitment to accelerate infrastructure deployment and empower
decision-makers with trusted, real-time data.”
• What
happens next: GridUnity’s platform will serve as PSCo’s system of record
for interconnection, supporting automated cluster study workflows, AI-driven
forecasting, and secure integration with legacy utility tools.
PR
Newswire, “Xcel Energy Selects GridUnity to Modernize Transmission
Interconnection in the WECC Region,” July 30, 2025
New study shows SP and TCT interconnection schemes have
context-specific advantages under shading
• What happened: A
peer-reviewed study published in Scientific Reports analyzed the
performance of series–parallel (SP) and total-cross-tied (TCT) interconnection
schemes for photovoltaic (PV) arrays under various partial shading patterns.
• Who did it: The
research was conducted by a multi-institutional team from India and Saudi
Arabia, led by Smita Pareek and Md Fahim Ansari.
• Why they did it:
To provide empirical and simulated evidence on how different shading geometries
affect maximum power point (MPP) performance depending on the array
interconnection scheme.
• Stakeholder views:
• The study concluded: “SP interconnection is preferred in two situations: (a) the
number of columns affected by shade is more than the number of rows and (b)
either full row or full column is shaded. In rest of the cases, TCT yield
better results.”
• What
happens next: These findings may inform design and interconnection
decisions for rooftop solar and other installations subject to predictable
shading, offering a logic-based approach to array configuration.
Nature Scientific
Reports, “Performance comparison of interconnection schemes for mitigating
partial shading losses in solar photovoltaic arrays,” July 30, 2025
What’s the So What?
Xcel Energy’s deployment of GridUnity’s automation platform
in Colorado marks a meaningful step toward interconnection modernization—one
that combines compliance, transparency, and real-time coordination into a
single operational system. As WECC braces for historic load growth and
generation volumes, Xcel’s move positions it to meet that challenge with more
than just policy rhetoric. It’s a concrete investment in scalable
infrastructure.
The bigger question is whether this model will be
replicated—and if so, how well. That’s where Minnesota enters the picture. When
Xcel Colorado launched one of the nation’s first community solar programs, it
became a model for distributed energy expansion. But when Xcel Minnesota tried
to replicate that model, it imported the framework without investing in the
support structures. The result: a program developers eventually learned to
navigate, but only by brute force. Early interconnection processes were rigid,
utility coordination was minimal, and many developers were pushed out. Recent reforms have brought the program to where it should
have been a decade ago—but for many, the market window has already closed.
The lesson is not that Colorado gets everything right and
Minnesota gets everything wrong. It’s that modernization only works when
implementation is grounded in context, capacity, and credible utility
engagement. If Xcel or other utilities attempt to lift Colorado’s new platform
and drop it into other states without adapting governance structures and
institutional behavior, the result could again be dysfunction masked as reform.
Meanwhile, the broader interconnection sector was quiet this
week. That quiet opens space for reflection on deeper process shifts. Avenra is
preparing a white paper exploring the future of developer-led
interconnection—not just self-performance of utility construction, but expanded
roles in pre-application studies, easement procurement, and interconnection
design. Prompted in part by Nexamp’s early pilots in New England, the paper
will outline how and where developers can responsibly absorb utility scope—and
what regulatory structures are needed to make that shift both legal and
reliable.
If the sector can get this right—combining software
upgrades, smarter delegation, and fit-for-purpose
implementation—interconnection reform could finally start delivering on its
promise.
Bibliography
PR Newswire. “Xcel Energy Selects GridUnity to Modernize
Transmission Interconnection in the WECC Region.” July 30, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xcel-energy-selects-gridunity-to-modernize-transmission-interconnection-in-the-wecc-region-302516838.html
Scientific Reports. “Performance comparison of
interconnection schemes for mitigating partial shading losses in solar
photovoltaic arrays.” July 30, 2025. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-12984-7