Ohio Admin. Code 4901:1-22-07 - Level 2 review procedure

(A) Level 2 qualifying criteria

In order for the application to be reviewed by the EDU under the level 2 review procedure, the applicant's DER must meet the following requirements:

(1) The DER utilizes inverter-based equipment that is certified in compliance with the IEEE and UL standards set forth in rule 4901:1-22-03 of the Administrative Code.

(2) The DER does not meet the level 1 interconnection review requirements.

(3) The DER nominal nameplate capacity does not exceed the limits identified in the table below, which vary according to the voltage of the line at the proposed point of interconnection. DERs located within 2.5 feeder line miles of a substation and on a main distribution line with minimum 600-ampere capacity are eligible for level 2 review under higher thresholds. These eligibility limits do not guarantee fast track approval.

Line Voltage	Nominal Nameplate Capacity	Nominal Nameplate Capacity if located on a 600 amp line and within 2.5 feeder miles of substation
less than or equal to 5kV	less than or equal to 500 kW	less than 2 MW
5kV less than or equal to 15 kV	less than or equal to 2MW	less than 3 MW
15 kV less than or equal to 30 kV	less than or equal to 3MW	less than 4 MW
30 kV less than or equal to 69 kV	less than or equal to 4MW	less than 5 MW

(B) Level 2 approval criteria

(1) The EDU shall approve an application for interconnection under level 2 review procedures if the DER meets the following criteria:

(a) The proposed DER's point of common coupling is not on a transmission line.

(b) The proposed DER complies with applicable codes and standards, effective as set forth in rule 4901:1-22-03 of the Administrative Code.

(c) The proposed DER is not located in an area where there are known or posted transient stability limitations to generating units located in the general electrical vicinity (for example, three or four distribution busses from the point of interconnection), or the proposed DER shall not have interdependencies, known to the EDU, with earlier queued transmission system interconnection requests. The EDU shall not disclose confidential information in the application of this screen.

(d) For interconnection of a proposed DER to a radial distribution circuit, the aggregated generation, including the proposed DER, on the circuit shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the line section annual peak load as most recently measured at the substation. The application of this screen addresses back feed and islanding conditions.

(e) The proposed DER, in aggregation with other DER generation on the distribution circuit, shall not contribute more than ten per cent to the distribution circuit's maximum fault current at the point on the primary voltage distribution line nearest the point of common coupling.

(f) The proposed DER, in aggregation with other DER generation on the distribution circuit, may not cause any distribution protective devices and equipment including substation breakers, fuse cutouts, and line reclosers, or other customer equipment on the electric distribution system, to be exposed to fault currents exceeding ninety per cent of the short circuit interrupting capability; nor shall an application requesting interconnection on a circuit that already exceeds ninety per cent of the short circuit interrupting capability be approved.

(g) When a proposed DER is single phase and is to be interconnected on a center tap neutral of a two hundred forty volt service, its addition shall not create an imbalance between the two sides of the two hundred forty volt service of more than twenty per cent of the nameplate rating of the service transformer.

(h) The proposed DER shall be interconnected to the EDU's primary distribution system as shown:

Primary Distribution Line Configuration	Interconnection to Primary Distribution Line
Three phase, three wire	If a three-phase or single-phase DER, interconnection must be phase-to-phase
Three phase, four wire	If a three-phase (effectively grounded) or single phase DER, interconnection must be line-to-neutral

(i) A review of the type of electrical service provided to the applicant, including line configuration and the transformer connection, will be conducted to limit the potential for creating over voltages on the EDU's electric distribution system due to a loss of ground during the operating time of any anti-islanding function.

(j) When the proposed DER is to be interconnected on single-phase shared secondary line, the aggregate DER generation capacity on the shared secondary line, including the proposed DER, will not exceed sixty-five per cent of the transformer nameplate rating.

(k) For interconnection of a proposed DER to the load side of spot or area network protectors, the proposed DER must utilize an inverter-based equipment package and, aggregated with other inverter-based generation, shall not exceed the lesser of five per cent of a spot or area network's maximum load or fifty kilowatts.

(l) Construction of facilities by the EDU on its own system is not required to accommodate the DER.

(C) Level 2 review timeframe

(1) Within twenty business days after the EDU notifies the applicant it has received a complete application, the EDU shall perform an initial review using the criteria set forth in paragraph (B) of this rule and shall notify the applicant of the results.

(2) If the proposed interconnection meets the screening criteria, the application shall be approved and the EDU will provide the applicant a standard interconnection agreement within five business days after the determination. The standard interconnection agreement shall be consistent with the uniform requirements for an interconnection agreement enumerated in rule 4901:1-22-10 of the Administrative Code, and include a timetable for the physical interconnection of the applicant's proposed DER to the EDU's system.

(3) If the proposed interconnection fails to meet the screening criteria, but the EDU determines that the proposed DER may nevertheless be interconnected consistent with safety, reliability, and power quality standards, the EDU shall provide the applicant a standard interconnection agreement within five business days after the determination and include a timetable for the physical interconnection of the applicant's proposed DER to the EDU's system.

(4) If the proposed interconnection fails to meet the screening criteria and the EDU determines that minor modifications or further study are required to interconnect the proposed DER to the EDU's system consistent with safety, reliability, and power quality standards, the EDU shall:

(a) Offer to perform facility modifications or minor modifications to the EDU's electric system (e.g., change meters, fuses, relay settings), or,

(b) Offer to perform a supplemental review if the EDU concludes that the supplemental review might determine that the proposed DER could continue to qualify for interconnection pursuant to the level 2 review process, or,

(c) Obtain the applicant's agreement to continue evaluating the application under level 3 review.

(5) At the applicant's request, the EDU shall provide copies of the analysis and the data underlying the EDU's determinations that minor modifications or further study is required.

(D) Facility or minor system modifications

(1) If facility modifications or minor system modifications are required to allow the proposed DER to be interconnected consistent with safety, reliability, and power quality standards under these procedures, the EDU shall provide the applicant with a non-binding good faith estimate of the cost to make such modifications.

(2) If the interconnection customer agrees to pay for the modifications to the EDU's system, the EDU shall provide the applicant with a standard interconnection agreement within five business days. The standard interconnection agreement shall be consistent with the uniform requirements for an interconnection agreement enumerated in rule 4901:1-22-10 of the Administrative Code, and include a timetable for the physical interconnection of the applicant's proposed DER to the EDU's system.

(E) Level 2 supplemental review

(1) If the customer requests that the EDU perform a supplemental review, the customer shall agree in writing within fifteen business days of the offer, and submit a supplemental review deposit of twenty-five hundred dollars, or the application shall be deemed withdrawn. Within twenty-five business days following receipt of the supplemental review deposit, the EDU shall perform a supplemental review using the screens set forth in this rule and notify the applicant of the results. For interconnection of a proposed DER to an area network, the EDU may utilize different analytical procedures for conducting supplemental review than those set forth in this rule. Following study completion, the EDU shall bill or credit the applicant any difference between the supplemental review deposit and the actual cost to perform the review. If the proposed interconnection fails one or more of the supplemental review screens, the EDU shall include with the notification copies of the analysis and data underlying the EDU's determinations under the screens.

(a) A supplemental review may be performed where twelve months of line section minimum load data is available or can be calculated, estimated from existing data, or determined from a power flow model, and where the aggregate DER capacity on the line section is less than one hundred per cent of the minimum load for all line sections bounded by automatic sectionalizing devices upstream of the proposed DER. If minimum load data is not available, or cannot be calculated, estimated or determined, the EDU shall include the reason(s) that it is unable to calculate, estimate or determine minimum load in its supplemental review results notification as set forth in paragraph (E)(1) of rule 4901:1-22-07 of the Administrative Code.

(i) The type of generation used by the proposed DER will be taken into account when calculating, estimating, or determining the circuit or line section minimum load. For the application of a solar photovoltaic generation system with no energy storage technology, use daytime minimum load, and use absolute minimum load for other generation.

(ii) When this screen is being applied to a DER that serves some onsite electrical load, the total load must be considered as part of the aggregate generation.

(iii) The EDU will consider generating facility capacity known to be reflected in the minimum load data as part of the aggregate generation for purposes of this screen.

(b) In aggregate with existing generation on the line section:

(i) the voltage regulation on the line section can be maintained in compliance with relevant requirements under all system conditions,

(ii) the voltage fluctuation is within acceptable limits as defined by IEEE Std 1453 or utility practice similar to IEEE Std 1453, and

(iii) the harmonic levels meet IEEE Std 519 limits at the point of interconnection.

(c) The location of the proposed DER and the aggregate generation capacity on the line section do not create impacts to safety or reliability that cannot be adequately addressed without application of the level 3 review. The EDU may consider the following and other factors in determining potential impacts to safety and reliability in applying the screen:

(i) Whether the line section has significant minimum loading levels dominated by a small number of customers.

(ii) If there is an even or uneven distribution of loading along the feeder.

(iii) If the proposed DER is located within 2.5 electrical line miles to the substation and if the distribution line from the substation to the customer is composed of a 600A class cable or conductor.

(iv) If the proposed DER incorporates a time delay function to prevent reconnection of the generator to the system until system voltage and frequency are within normal limits for a prescribed time.

(v) If operational flexibility is reduced by the proposed DER, such that transfer of the line section(s) of the DER to a neighboring distribution circuit/substation may trigger overloads or voltage issues.

(2) If the proposed interconnection meets the supplemental review criteria, the application shall be approved and the EDU will provide the applicant a standard interconnection agreement within five business days after the determination. The standard interconnection agreement shall be consistent with the uniform requirements for an interconnection agreement enumerated in rule 4901:1-22-10 of the Administrative Code and include a timetable for the physical interconnection of the applicant's proposed DER to the EDU's system.

(3) If the proposed interconnection fails the supplemental review criteria, the EDU shall obtain the applicant's agreement to continue evaluating the application under level 3 review. If the applicant agrees to have the project evaluated under the level 3 review process, the cost of level 2 supplemental review shall be deducted from the otherwise applicable level 3 review fee. If the level 3 standard review fee is less than the level 2 supplemental review cost, the level 3 review fee shall be waived.

(F) Level 2 fees

The EDU's tariff for level 2 review processing fees will include the following:

(1) An application fee of up to fifty dollars, plus one dollar per kilowatt of the DER's nominal nameplate capacity rating.

(2) In the event that an application is evaluated under supplemental review, any or all of the following fees may be assessed by the EDU:

(a) The twenty-five hundred dollar supplemental review deposit, adjusted following study completion to reflect the cost of engineering work billed at actual costs.

(b) The actual cost of any minor modification of the electric distribution utility's system that would otherwise not be done but for the applicant's interconnection request.

Notes

Ohio Admin. Code 4901:1-22-07

Effective: 3/25/2024
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 5/3/2027
Promulgated Under: 111.15
Statutory Authority: 4928.06
Rule Amplifies: 4928.11
Prior Effective Dates: 09/18/2000, 10/22/2007, 07/10/2014, 06/01/2022