The Grid Research and Development Act seeks to modernize and standardize the reporting of information and data to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Federal Power Act. This legislation requires transmitting utilities and Transmission Organizations to provide more comprehensive and detailed reports. The primary goal is to enhance transparency and improve the understanding of the electric transmission sector for regulators and the public. To achieve this, FERC is mandated to establish new reporting requirements covering various aspects of projects, existing assets, and systems. These include detailed information on project lifecycles, such as milestones, classifications, and locations, along with their costs and economic justifications. Reports must also cover capital structure, rates of return, congestion-related costs, technical losses, and a complete accounting of interconnection-related expenses. The bill emphasizes the format of these reports, requiring data to be fully searchable, machine-readable, and accessible through a single, user-friendly public web interface. It also directs FERC to review and modernize existing forms, like FERC Form No. 1, ensuring completeness and compliance with new standards. Projections must be clearly defined with underlying assumptions and methodologies. Furthermore, the Act establishes a centralized, publicly accessible data repository , developed and maintained by FERC in collaboration with the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This repository will house historical and future data from various FERC forms and new reports, offering user-friendly tools, APIs, and visualization capabilities. Its purpose is to provide high-quality, standardized data for analysis while ensuring appropriate security and anonymization. The legislation also mandates the Secretary of Energy, in collaboration with FERC, to conduct grid research and policy analysis . This research will investigate the primary drivers of increased costs to ratepayers, the value delivered by transmission investments, and mechanisms to enhance ratepayer affordability. It will also involve comparative scenario modeling to identify lowest-cost pathways for grid expansion and assess systemic cost impacts from interconnection inefficiencies. Finally, the Secretary is directed to develop and maintain an Interconnection Data Dashboard through National Laboratories. This dashboard will provide transparent, real-time, and historical insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of interconnection processes across all transmission planning regions. It will present anonymized queue data, study durations, upgrade costs, and allow filtering by various parameters, supporting public analysis and annual reporting on interconnection trends.