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If interconnection were simply a technical challenge, we would have solved it already

States across the U.S. have been regulating the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar and energy storage, for more than two decades. Yet, today we have a patchwork of nonuniform interconnection procedures across the country.

The greatest barriers to clean energy access are rarely technical. Outdated or inefficient processes place real burdens on project developers and utility staff, who navigate complex rules while balancing grid safety and customer demand. As challenging as these processes can be for those who navigate them regularly, it is utility customers – especially those at the margins of the energy transition – that are most impacted. At EquinoxDG, we focus on the human systems that shape interconnection outcomes, working with the people inside them to remove procedural barriers and accelerate access to renewable energy so that communities are able to exert control over their energy future.

Vaughan Woodruff | Principal

Effective interconnection strategy requires a deep understanding of interconnection procedures and effectively navigating the institutions that define and implement them.

Vaughan has spent his career working inside those institutions and at their edges. As founder and CEO of a solar contracting company, Vaughan was accountable for managing utility, regulatory, and legislative affairs, addressing interconnection challenges, and incorporating changing utility requirements into business planning. Later, as an executive at a regional solar and storage company, he led interconnection strategy and led dispute resolution for projects stalled in utility queues, which required navigating within existing regulations, escalating issues while maintaining effective working relationships with utility staff, and advocating for improving interconnection regulation.

Vaughan also served for 6 years as the chair of Maine’s solar industry trade group during a gubernatorial administration that was openly hostile towards solar energy. In that role, he coordinated with fellow solar business owners, environmental organizations, and policymakers; testified regularly before the Maine legislature and Public Utilities Commission; and helped advance changes to the state’s renewable energy policy. That experience required balancing advocacy with credibility, centering the public interest, and pushing for reform while maintaining working relationships with regulators and utilities responsible for implementation.

After proving regional leadership on interconnection regulation, Vaughan served as Vice President of Regulatory Reform for the national leader in DER interconnection reform, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. Vaughan led IREC’s national strategy and supported a team of engineers, lawyers, and policy professionals advancing regulatory reform to ensure that the interconnection of solar and storage and the energization of infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles can rapidly and equitable decarbonize our grid. 

Vaughan has authored numerous technical articles and resources, served on advisory and code committees for several prominent national organizations, provides technical training to professionals across the country, and serves as chair of Maine’s State Workforce Development Board.

When he’s not at his computer working on interconnection reform, Vaughan is often in Maine’s woods, mountains, and lakes or coaching youth basketball.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

EquinoxDG was founded to focus specifically on the practical challenges of interconnecting distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar and energy storage, to the grid. Because these challenges represent an intersection of technical, policy, and market challenges, the process for solving them is often complex. EquinoxDG was created to offer independent, senior-level expertise that is informed by deep experience with the industry, utility, and regulatory processes that drive impact.

At EquinoxDG, we know that the transition to clean energy isn’t held back by technology; it’s held back by processes and systems. Distributed generation (DG), such as solar and energy storage, can provide communities with more control, reliability, and resilience, but only if these systems can connect efficiently and fairly to the grid.

By focusing on interconnection, we accelerate access to distributed power, the core of our mission. We work with project developers, utilities, and regulators to streamline the systems that too often slow progress. This ensures that all communities, especially those historically excluded, can exercise agency over their energy future.

In short, we focus here because solving interconnection challenges helps to unlock clean energy for everyone, making the grid more responsive to the communities it serves.

EquinoxDG’s work is guided by a commitment to reliability, safety, equity, and the public interest and informed by a clear-eyed understanding of how utilities and regulators implement change in practice.

Maintaining trust across stakeholder groups is central to our approach. The common thread with our clients is a commitment to accelerating access to distributed power for utility customers. We balance the priority of advancing clean energy access with the need to maintain a safe and reliable grid that delivers energy at a reasonable cost.

The name “EquinoxDG” combines a term that is familiar to most, equinox, with an abbreviation for distributed generation (DG). We chose to include equinox in our name as it represents (roughly) the time of year when the day is equal across the globe - a biannual reminder of balance and equality. Equinox also represents a time of the year that can be challenging for integrating distributed generation (DG) into the grid, due to relatively abundant solar energy during a time of year when there is typically low electrical demand.