A director of grid connections to unlock a stalled renewables pipeline

The brief

The developer had a pipeline of around 6 GW of solar and battery storage projects across three regional grid operators in the United States, but most of it was stuck in interconnection queues. Two projects had already been withdrawn after network upgrade costs came in far above budget, and grid work was handled by three engineers reporting to the head of development.

The company needed a director of grid connections who could set a queue strategy across the whole portfolio, negotiate with grid operators and utilities, and build a proper team. Experience with cluster studies and network upgrade cost allocation was essential. The role was based in New York, with regular travel to Texas and the Midwest.

The search

Rahul mapped 143 interconnection and transmission specialists across developers, utilities, grid operators and engineering consultancies. Rather than search by title, we worked through public queue data to identify the people behind projects that had reached signed interconnection agreements, which narrowed the field quickly. We approached 38 and spoke at length with 21.

Four reached the shortlist. Each was asked to review two of the stalled projects and present a view on whether to persist, restructure or withdraw. The near miss came from the client side. Midway through the search, the company’s investors questioned whether the role should be filled at all, given a hiring freeze elsewhere in the business. We gave the board a two-page paper setting the cost of one more withdrawal against the cost of the hire, and the search resumed within a week. The successful candidate, previously a senior interconnection manager at a regional grid operator, signed on day 41.

The outcome

The new director rebuilt the queue strategy in the first quarter, withdrawing two projects early to avoid further study deposits and restructuring three others. Within eight months, 1.4 GW of the pipeline had moved to signed interconnection agreements, and the grid team had grown to nine, with two of those hires placed by Roster. The developer has since closed a new funding round, and its investors cited the improved interconnection position as a deciding factor.