Site control: the readiness requirement that filters the queue
Documented legal control of the land on which a proposed project would be built, required to enter and remain in an interconnection queue.
Site control is documented legal control of the land a proposed project would occupy. Transmission providers require it as a condition of entering an interconnection queue and of remaining in it at defined checkpoints.
The requirement exists to filter speculative requests. A request without land behind it can occupy a queue position, shape the base case for every project studied with it, and then withdraw, imposing restudy and reallocation on the rest of the cluster.
FERC strengthened site control requirements in Order No. 2023, including limits on substituting a deposit for demonstrated control at entry. What satisfies the requirement — acreage per megawatt, acceptable instruments, and the timing of the demonstration — is set in each transmission provider''s tariff, and disputes about sufficiency are resolved on the record.
Questions
- What counts as site control?
- The tariff specifies the acceptable forms, which typically include ownership, a lease, an option, or an exclusivity agreement covering the required acreage for the project type.
- Can a deposit substitute for site control?
- Order No. 2023 restricted the practice of posting a deposit in lieu of site control at entry; the rule in force for a project is the one in the applicable tariff.
Sources
- 01
Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements, Order No. 2023
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · RM22-14-000 · retrieved 2026-08-09
- 02
Pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures and Large Generator Interconnection Agreement
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · pro-forma-LGIP-LGIA · retrieved 2026-08-09