Federal court upholds policy that will bring more, faster clean energy to Americans

(Washington, D.C. – July 31, 2026) A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected legal challenges to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rule designed to help connect more clean energy to U.S. power grids – and do it more quickly.

“Clearing the way for more affordable clean energy will help lower electricity costs and meet rising power demand when Americans need it the most,” said Ted Kelly, Lead Counsel for Environmental Defense Fund, which is a party to the case. “Today’s court decision upholds FERC’s clear authority to speed up interconnection, to modernize the rules that govern U.S. power grids, and to make sure utilities meet their deadlines.”

The D.C. Circuit ruling in Advanced Energy United v. FERC involved challenges from utilities and other groups to FERC’s Order 2023, the Generator Interconnection Rule – a set of reforms that will help ease the way for clean energy projects to get online. As the court recognized, FERC issued the rule to address a “decades-long traffic jam” preventing clean energy and storage from getting onto the grid, with delays averaging five years. By upholding the Interconnection Rule, this decision will support a massive acceleration of low-cost clean energy and storage that reduces power bills and reduces health-harming pollution—as long as the Trump administration stops imposing cynical and unlawful roadblocks to clean affordable energy. Environmental Defense Fund intervened in support of the rule.