THE DOCKET · PMF-26-001 · Mar 2026 · Sacramento & Honolulu
Interconnection Reform
A shot clock for distributed generation. Any project under 5 MW receives a study, a cost estimate, and a yes-or-no within ninety days — in both states, under one model rule. Queue position becomes tradable; silence becomes approval.
The brief
Interconnection is where distributed energy goes to wait. A rooftop array, a district battery, or a small geothermal plant can be financed, permitted, and built in less time than it takes the utility to say yes to the wire. The queue is opaque, the studies are serial, and the clock belongs to nobody.
PMF-26-001 gives the clock to the applicant. Any project under 5 MW receives a completed study, a binding cost estimate, and a yes-or-no within ninety days of a complete application. The rule is identical in both states, so a developer who learns the process in Honolulu already knows it in Sacramento.
Two mechanisms make the deadline real. Queue position becomes a tradable instrument, so dead projects stop blocking live ones and the queue clears itself. And silence becomes approval: if the utility does not act within the window, the standard-design project interconnects by right under the pre-approved profile.