Connection queues and waits: 38 markets, worst first
How hard it is to connect a large new load in each market, and how long it takes. Markets with a countable queue show its depth and typical wait; markets where the barrier is access rather than a queue show a friction level. Every figure is labelled measured or modelled and cited on the market page. Year-band waits are free here; precise waits in months, and how each queue has moved, are the Analyst Desk, part of the Connection Friction Feed.
● Severe● High● Moderate● Low
File to energized, worst first
Each bar is one market’s end-to-end wait for a large new load, split into the stages that make it up. Hover a segment for the stage and its length. Stages overlap in practice and vary by project; the split is our estimate anchored to each operator’s published process, and the total is the representative time to energization rather than a quoted date. 28 markets carry a stage build-up and are drawn here; the other 10 on this page are graded but not timed.
■ stage 1■ stage 2■ stage 3· segment order follows each market’s own process
Queue context: These are generation and storage interconnection queues. They show how congested the interconnection system is. They do not measure how long a new large load waits, and their withdrawal rates are not load withdrawal rates. At the end of 2025, generation and storage projects totalling about 2,060 GW were actively waiting in United States queues, down 10% from a year earlier. Of the capacity that entered between 2000 and 2020, about 75% withdrew before connecting and only about 13% reached operation by end-2025. The typical project built in 2025 waited about 61 months from request to operation (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Queued Up 2026). Figures below are refreshed quarterly; each is labelled measured or modelled.
The wait is the typical end-to-end time for a large new load, from a complete application being accepted to full firm energization of the nominated MW, not a firm quote. Earlier milestones (initial, phased, temporary or conditional energization) come sooner and are reported separately. Multi-year waits are real in saturated grids: in Northern Virginia, Dominion has said large data centres over 100 MW can wait up to seven years, and parts of the Netherlands and Ireland are quoted at similar or longer horizons.
◆ Your Analyst Desk access shows the precise typical wait in months for every market above, in place of the free year bands.
🔒 Precise waits in months are the Analyst Desk
Everything above is free, and each market's full connection story stays free on its rating page. The Desk sharpens this table: the precise typical wait in months instead of a year band, how each queue has moved, and alerts when one changes.
Each market's friction level and wait band stay free on its rating page. Withdrawal rates and data-center share are the enterprise Connection Friction Feed; this free view is a current snapshot, refreshed quarterly.