New York solar interconnection
One statewide standard instead of utility-by-utility tariffs — but the grid under your feet still decides how much review a project gets.
The SIR frame
New York interconnection runs under the Standardized Interconnection Requirements (SIR) — a single statewide document from the Department of Public Service, adopted by the Public Service Commission, governing distributed generation and energy storage with an AC nameplate rating of 5 MW or less. Unlike states where each utility files its own interconnection tariff, the SIR sets the applications, screens, studies, fees, and business-day clocks once, for all of the state's investor-owned utilities.
The SIR is revised over time, so the effective edition matters — our utility pages note the edition in force at their last review (effective February 9, 2026). The structure it defines:
- Expedited process — systems 50 kW or less (and certain UL 1741 SB inverter-based systems up to 300 kW): six steps, a 10-business-day completeness and eligibility review, and no application fee.
- Full process — above 50 kW up to 5 MW: eleven steps, running preliminary screening (Screens A–F, results within 15 business days), optional supplemental screening (Screens G–I, 20 business days), and a CESIR study (60 business days, extendable by up to 40 by agreement) where required.
- Above 5 MW — outside the SIR, in each utility's own large-generator process.
The SIR also requires electronic submission through each utility's online portal — which is where utility differences reappear: the same standard is administered through different portals, technical bulletins, and documentation checklists.
Utilities covered
Con Edison
New York City & Westchester · SIR
PowerClerk portals split by size, the SIR's published fee table, and the network-area review realities of NYC.
National Grid
Upstate New York (Niagara Mohawk) · SIR
The nCAP portal, ESB 756 technical requirements layered on the SIR, and the same statewide clocks upstate. (The page also covers National Grid's separate Massachusetts tariff.)
NYC network areas vs upstate
The standard is statewide; the grid is not. Much of Con Edison's territory runs on underground secondary network systems, where the SIR lets the utility require additional review case by case. In practice that means a CESIR can be required in New York City even for mid-size projects that would screen through on the radial circuits typical of National Grid's upstate territory — and certain configurations that pass elsewhere can be barred on network locations. Installers moving between the two territories should expect the same forms and clocks but a different probability of study.
Filing in New York every month?
Design partners get 5 free filings and their territory encoded first — packets produced with dual human review while the software is built.
Related pages
- Rule 21 vs the NY SIR — how New York's statewide standard compares with California's utility-filed tariffs, for installers working both.
- Interconnection fees by utility — the published fee structures side by side, with verify flags on every revision-sensitive amount.
- Interconnection glossary — CESIR, screens, three-line diagrams, UL 1741 SB, and the rest of the vocabulary, defined.