The first quarter of 2026 brought a surge of interconnection activity across the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC) region. Key updates included:
Santee Cooper finalized revisions to its interconnection procedures at the end of 2025, formally adopting FERC Order 2023, aligned cluster study constructs. One major structural change includes the reduction of the application window from 150 calendar days to only 45 days. This change will significantly increase the importance of front-end project readiness, including site control, modeling completeness, and documentation accuracy at the time of submission.
Southern Company concurrently deployed a new interconnection application portal. Early-cycle implementation introduced friction points, most notably around user access controls and the integration of third-party consultants. This change makes additional coordination during time-sensitive submission periods imperative.
The transition from a serial study process to a cluster-based framework has materially increased the scope and complexity of required technical deliverables. Developers are now expected to provide a multi-platform modeling package that includes:
These expanded requirements have raised the bar for technical preparedness, particularly within non-jurisdictional utilities such as TVA and Santee Cooper, where historical modeling expectations were less aligned with evolving FERC-driven standards.
Reforms driven by FERC Order 2023 continue to elevate the threshold for site control, with most utilities requiring approximately 90% control at the time of application. Southern Company has maintained a notably stringent interpretation of these requirements, conducting detailed reviews of both land ownership documentation and total acreage relative to project design parameters. Deficiencies in site control remain a leading cause of application risk.
Within this evolving framework, successful application outcomes are increasingly dependent on early-stage technical rigor and coordinated execution. In 2026, EPE has leveraged in-house expertise in model development, validation, and benchmarking to support late-stage submissions that successfully cleared deficiency reviews and secured queue positions across multiple utilities.
As Annual Cluster processes mature, developers should anticipate continued emphasis on upfront completeness, higher-fidelity modeling, and stricter administrative gating criteria. Early alignment across engineering, real estate, and regulatory workstreams will be critical to maintaining competitiveness in future cluster windows. To find out how EPE can help you secure queue positions across SERC, contact our team using the form below.
We're here to help.
When you partner with EPE, you get an experienced team dedicated to providing you with tailored solutions and expert guidance.
Please fill out the form to the right, and a member of our team will be in touch.