Union Power Cooperative small generation interconnection: tiers, fees and insurance

Q: How does Union Power Cooperative small generation interconnection measure system size?

The published limits do not say whether they are measured in alternating or direct current.

How the size is measured: not published

The published limits here are stated in kilowatts without saying whether that is the inverter rating in alternating current or the array rating in direct current. On a system near a threshold that decides which band it lands in, so the checker asks the question rather than choosing an answer.

Size bands and what each one obliges

100 kW or less Size 0 to 100 kW	One tier, with no residential and non residential split. A $250 non refundable application fee applies as a minimum, and the member is responsible for all interconnection costs including additional metering and system upgrades. Comprehensive general liability of at least $300,000 per occurrence is required from every member, primary for all purposes, with a certificate forwarded every January. $250 non refundable application fee, minimum $300,000 per occurrence comprehensive general liability, primary for all purposes, with no residential carve out Certificate of insurance forwarded to the cooperative each January Isolation device, suitability at the cooperative’s sole discretion

100 kW or less Size 0 to 100 kW

One tier, with no residential and non residential split. A $250 non refundable application fee applies as a minimum, and the member is responsible for all interconnection costs including additional metering and system upgrades. Comprehensive general liability of at least $300,000 per occurrence is required from every member, primary for all purposes, with a certificate forwarded every January.

$250 non refundable application fee, minimum
$300,000 per occurrence comprehensive general liability, primary for all purposes, with no residential carve out
Certificate of insurance forwarded to the cooperative each January
Isolation device, suitability at the cooperative’s sole discretion

The screens that decide it

Within the simplified certification path Limit 10 kW.
A simplified path exists for certified generator systems of 10 kW or less, or inverter based systems under 5 kW. Above that the full review applies, and Union Power’s published review clock is long.
Circuit level saturation, absolute kW ceiling by circuit voltage
Neither cooperative uses a fifteen percent of line section peak load screen. Both ration each circuit by an absolute kilowatt ceiling keyed to the circuit’s phase to phase voltage: 100 kW on circuits of 20 kV or greater, 60 kW on circuits of 10 kV but less than 20 kV, and 30 kW on circuits below 10 kV. Larger amounts may be allowed on an engineering determination. Queue position is set by the date a completed application is received, so headroom depends on who applied first and cannot be computed from the customer’s own data.
Below the service entrance capacity and within transformer and balance limits
The same three facility limits as EnergyUnited apply: service entrance cable capacity at the point of common coupling, transformer nameplate loading, and a 3 percent voltage imbalance ceiling on a three phase transformer. All depend on data the cooperative holds.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Is the 100 kW limit measured on the inverter AC rating or the array DC rating? The standard never says.
The standard states the impact screen completes within 120 days and an agreement follows within 60 days, but never says whether those are business or calendar days. Which is it, and what is the realistic date?
What is the circuit’s phase to phase voltage at this address, and how much of its kilowatt allowance is already taken?
Union Power has a separate Solar and Battery Interconnection page. If a battery is included, ask what additional terms apply; the standard itself does not address storage.

Worth knowing before you quote

Two things make Union Power the hardest sale among the cooperatives in this set, and both differ from the otherwise near identical EnergyUnited document. First, the insurance clause has no residential carve out: the $300,000 commercial general liability figure is written to apply to every member, with a recurring certificate obligation each January. Second, the published review clock runs up to roughly 180 days from application to an executable agreement, four times EnergyUnited’s, before installation can even begin. There is no net metering. Union Power pays its avoided cost, published at 4.25 cents per kWh, in line with what it pays for wholesale power. A $42 facilities charge and the standard monthly charges remain on the bill regardless of production.

Source

Union Power Cooperative Standard for Interconnecting Small Generation 100 kW or Less, with the published Considering Solar program terms

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Rural electric cooperative, outside the North Carolina interconnection standard. The cooperative's own published documents govern. The standard carries no printed revision date; its file metadata dates it to 2009 with a 2018 modification. Union Power has no net metering: it pays a published avoided cost.

All North Carolina interconnection rules

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Worth knowing before you quote

What to do with this