Recent changes to Duke Energy’s net-metering policies in the Carolinas have expanded opportunities for larger behind-the-meter (BTM) distributed energy resource (DER) systems, enabling large load customers to pursue diverse projects motivated by energy cost savings, operational resilience, and sustainability goals.

An example is the Siemens Electrification and Automation facility in Wendell, NC, which will meet new milestones in energy resiliency and sustainability through the use of a campus solar and battery energy storage microgrid. The Wendell campus leverages technology to ensure reliable fault detection and system protection while providing grid supportive features. The campus aimed to achieve 100% CO2 reduction by 2026 and reduce overall grid energy consumption by 2.5 MWh per year. 

Duke Energy has developed and implemented a new interconnection study process specifically tailored to large BTM customers, designed to streamline interconnection for eligible projects while maintaining grid safety and reliability standards. This new interconnection study approach was utilized to evaluate the Siemens Wendell campus microgrid project. 

This presentation will examine key lessons learned from implementing the new interconnection study process on a customer-owned BTM microgrid project, featuring insights from both Duke Energy's utility perspective and Siemens’ developer experience. These practical lessons are driving systematic improvements to both state jurisdictional interconnection procedures and Duke’s internal processes.