ISO/RTO Regions by Interconnection Queue Depth
Grid operators ranked by the average interconnection-queue depth at their candidate sites — deeper queues signal more contention for new load. ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) leads with 1,167 (average queue depth), ahead of CAISO (California Independent System Operator) (203).
At a glance
What does this ranking measure?
The average interconnection-queue depth — the number of projects waiting at nearby points of interconnection — across the candidate sites in each grid operator's footprint. Deeper queues mean more projects competing for the same transmission capacity. Lower values rank first. This ranking covers 9 grid regions, computed from 147,272 scored candidate sites, and spans 1,167 at the top and 11 at the bottom.
How do the top 5 compare with the national figure?
The top 5 are ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) (1,167), CAISO (California Independent System Operator) (203), MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) (139), NYISO (New York Independent System Operator) (93), WECC (Western Electricity Coordinating Council) (66). That compares with the national average of 113 queued projects. In all, 6 of 9 grid regions do better than that figure. At the other end, SERC (SERC Reliability Corporation) (50), SPP (Southwest Power Pool) (48), ISO-NE (ISO New England) (11) rank lowest.
How many candidate sites sit behind each region?
PJM accounts for 31,769 sites (21.6% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 51.9; MISO accounts for 31,047 sites (21.1% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 54.7; WECC accounts for 24,461 sites (16.6% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 50.8; SERC accounts for 21,546 sites (14.6% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 55.8; SPP accounts for 16,814 sites (11.4% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 53.2; CAISO accounts for 7,921 sites (5.4% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 45.7; ISO-NE accounts for 5,817 sites (3.9% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 54.7; ERCOT accounts for 4,035 sites (2.7% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 57.9; NYISO accounts for 2,860 sites (1.9% of the national catalog) with an average DC Readiness score of 53.9.
Values are screening estimates from public data — not site-specific assessments, and catalogued capacity is a theoretical aggregate, not deliverable power. Full methodology →
Ranking FAQ
ISO/RTO Regions by Interconnection Queue Depth: which grid region ranks first?
ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) ranks first with 1,167 (average queue depth), followed by CAISO (California Independent System Operator) (203).
How is this ranking calculated?
The average interconnection-queue depth — the number of projects waiting at nearby points of interconnection — across the candidate sites in each grid operator's footprint. Deeper queues mean more projects competing for the same transmission capacity. 9 grid regions are ranked, lower values first.
Which grid region ranks last?
ISO-NE (ISO New England) ranks 9th of 9, at 11.
How many grid regions beat the national figure?
6 of 9 grid regions do better than the national average of 113 queued projects.
How often is this ranking updated?
It is recomputed from the full candidate-site dataset after each monthly data refresh.
Explore the leading grid regions
About this data
Source: GridCensus composite of HIFLD transmission and substation data, EIA, FEMA National Risk Index, FCC broadband data, PeeringDB and ISO interconnection queues, as published November 12, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: GridCensus, “ISO/RTO Regions by Interconnection Queue Depth”, https://gridcensus.com/rankings/iso-regions-by-queue-depth (data as of November 12, 2026).
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Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.
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