Overview
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL or “Berkeley Lab”) is a US Department of Energy national laboratory operated by the University of California. Its Energy Markets & Planning division publishes the authoritative annual “Queued Up” report tracking US interconnection-queue status across PJM, ERCOT, MISO, SPP, ISO-NE, NYISO, and non-ISO balancing authorities. The “Queued Up” series is the load-bearing primary source for the Interconnection Queue concept and for any analysis of the AI Buildout Grid Constraint queue layer.
Key Facts
- “Queued Up” annual report series: Tracks generation, storage, and (recently) large-load projects seeking grid interconnection. Annual publication cycle.
- 2024 edition headline data: ~2,600 GW total capacity in queues vs. 1,279 GW US installed capacity; 11,600 active projects; 14% solar / 11% battery completion rate for 2000-2018 cohort.
- 2025 edition (Dec 15, 2025): Extends dataset through end of 2024; 1,400 GW generation + 890 GW storage; 1,271 GW with proposed COD by end-2026 (49% of total).
- Coverage: Reports cover MISO, PJM, SPP, ISO-NE, NYISO, and non-ISO balancing authorities (Duke, Pacificorp, Bonneville). ERCOT tracked separately.
- Methodology: Aggregates RTO interconnection-queue snapshots; analyzes withdrawal rates, completion rates, project size growth, interconnection cost evolution.
- Withdrawal-rate finding: ~70% of all projects ultimately withdraw during the wait — structural failure mode, not bureaucratic friction.
- Cost finding: Interconnection costs in 2019-2023 were 44% greater than during the preceding five years.
Newsletter Relevance
LBNL is the primary citable institutional source for the Interconnection Queue concept and any quantitative claim about queue depth, wait times, completion rates, or withdrawal rates. The “Queued Up” report is what trade press (Latitude Media, PV Tech, etc.) summarize when reporting on US grid-interconnection problems. For the May 15 article’s Item 3 (interconnection queue depth), LBNL is the authoritative document the article should reference — directly or via the US Interconnection Queue Twice Installed Capacity — Latitude Media - 2024-04-11 interpretation.
Connections
- Wood Mackenzie — adjacent data source on the transformer/substation supply-chain side
- FERC — regulator that ordered PJM (Dec 18 2025) to overhaul rules; LBNL data informs the regulatory record
- US Department of Energy — parent agency (deferred stub)
- University of California — operating contractor (deferred stub)
Source Appearances
- US Interconnection Queue Twice Installed Capacity — Latitude Media - 2024-04-11 — primary trade-press interpretation of LBNL “Queued Up” data; 2,600 GW vs 1,279 GW headline
- Google Intersect Power Acquisition — Introl - 2026-01-20 — cited for 20% completion rate (2000-2018 cohort) and US queue depth context
Open Questions
- The “Queued Up: 2025 Edition” (Dec 15, 2025) PDF was not directly ingested in this pass; for RTO-specific (PJM/ERCOT/MISO) gigawatt breakdowns, the PDF should be acquired separately.
- Does LBNL publish queue data more frequently than annually (quarterly snapshots, real-time dashboards)?
- How does LBNL’s queue analysis interact with FERC Form 715 transmission planning data — overlapping or complementary?