A new policy memo from the Day One Project lays out six AI-enabled solutions to speed up grid permitting and reduce interconnection delays, as project queues swell past 11,000. (FAS)
The pitch: Use AI to automate environmental reviews, streamline site selection, and cut the average five-year wait time for grid connection. Tools like PNNL’s PermitAI and NREL’s SolarAPP+ could be scaled to help states and localities process permits faster and more consistently.
The memo also calls on FERC to push RTOs to evaluate AI for automating cluster studies, citing private models that can simulate interconnection scenarios in days instead of years.
The goal: Unlock stalled clean energy capacity before rising demand makes the backlog unmanageable.