PJM Advances to Next Phase of New Interconnection Process

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May 20, 2024, 10:14 ET

Initial System Impact Study Results for 300+ Projects Posted to New PJM.com Page

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., May 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PJM announced today the completion of Phase I System Impact Studies for 306 proposed generation projects as part of Transition Cycle #1 of PJM's new interconnection process.

Project developers now have 30 days to decide whether to proceed with their new service requests into the next study phase of Transition Cycle #1, which will begin June 20. The projects that are part of this transition cycle are expected to clear PJM's study process and be ready for construction by mid-2025.

Separately, another 306 projects have previously qualified for an Expedited Process, or "fast lane," with Final Agreements to be issued throughout 2024.

"This is another critical milestone for PJM's widely supported interconnection process reform," said Aftab Khan, Executive Vice President – Operations, Planning and Security. "New service requests for generation resources are moving through our process as designed and promised, with more than 200,000 MW of projects to be studied over the next two years to help states advance their energy policy goals."

New Webpage Created To Share Study Results and Request Status

The Phase I Study process will help developers evaluate whether their projects are economically viable. The Phase I Study results for the Transition Cycle #1 projects have been posted to a new webpage. The results posted include an overall report for this cluster of projects, as well as individual studies for each project.

Similar to PJM's legacy Service Request Status page, projects can be filtered by fuel type and location, but now additional details about each project can be expanded into pop-up mini-dashboard windows. The new page also highlights PJM's move away from a queue-based study process to its current cycle-based process.

The legacy serial-study based page continues to provide information about projects that were part of PJM's legacy interconnection queue.

New Interconnection Process To Continue With Start of Cycle #2 in June

The cutoff date for Transition Cycle #2 applications is also expected to be announced June 20, with an anticipated deadline of December 16.

In total, PJM expects to process about 72,000 MW in projects by mid-2025 and 230,000 MW over the next three years; over 90% of those projects are renewable or storage.

PJM's interconnection process reform, widely supported by stakeholders, was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November 2022 and went into effect in July 2023. The reforms, developed in collaboration with stakeholders, provide an efficient and timely process for handling New Service Requests by, among other changes, transitioning from a "first-come, first-served" queue approach to a "first-ready, first-served" cycle approach.

PJM continues to provide updates on study progress at the monthly public meetings of the Interconnection Process Subcommittee.

Since the new interconnection process was implemented in July, 734 projects were eligible to be evaluated in the first step. Of those, 118 either dropped out of the process or did not post sufficient readiness requirements by the due date, clearing the queue of projects that were less certain to be developed but still requiring the same time and resources from PJM.

The remaining projects fell into either the Expedited Process or Transition Cycle #1 as outlined above.

PJM Interconnection, founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region's transmission grid, which includes 88,115 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. PJM's regional grid and market operations produce annual savings of $3.2 billion to $4 billion. For the latest news about PJM, visit PJM Inside Lines at insidelines.pjm.com.