On January 7, 2025, Altamont Road Solar, LLC (Altamont) filed a complaint against National Grid

pursuant to Section I, Part C, Step 11 of the Standardized Interconnection Requirements (SIR). The complaint requests that the Public Service Commission prohibit National Grid from collecting an additional $1.3 million in utility cost overruns for upgrades that the utility deemed necessary to interconnect the community solar project. NYSEIA intervened in this matter regarding this individual project, as the complaint is indicative of broader distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection issues including: utility distribution upgrade cost-estimation accuracy, transparency into actual costs, and cost-certainty.

Our comments refer to our petition to advance cost certainty in addition to providing Altamont relief. NYSEIA makes the following assertions in our comments:

• National Grid violated the SIR and did not maintain a good faith cost estimate

• National Grid’s reconciliation statements do not substantiate their costs incurred (discrepancy in labor costs and inflated overhead costs)

• The Altamont complaint highlights the need for greater oversight of utility distribution

  upgrade costs for distributed energy resources

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