Environmental advocates pressure Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject proposed integration of PJM electricity grid due to concerns over clean energy and environmental impact
PJM Interconnection, the operator of the largest power grid in the United States, has come under scrutiny from clean energy trade groups and environmental organizations over its compliance plan for FERC's Order 2023. The groups argue that PJM's plan falls short of meeting the order's requirements, particularly in areas such as timelines, penalty enforcement, operational assumptions, and cost allocation.
In a joint filing last week, the groups urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject PJM's plan for meeting FERC's new generator interconnection requirements. They contend that PJM's proposal aims to avoid complying with most of the key requirements of Order 2023.
One of the key issues raised by the groups is PJM's failure to adhere to Order 2023’s required timelines. PJM's planned cluster study durations exceed the 150-day maximum mandated by Order 2023. The groups argue that PJM's resistance to imposing penalties for study delays undermines timely progress.
Another point of contention is PJM's proposal to reject financial surety bonds as part of its cluster study process. The groups argue that such bonds are standard, reliable financial security tools that PJM unjustly excludes.
The groups also urge PJM to adopt more realistic assumptions reflecting how battery energy storage resources actually operate. They claim that PJM's current modeling does not align with operational behavior, which could hamper accurate interconnection studies and grid planning.
Furthermore, the groups contend that PJM has delayed compliance with the requirement to incorporate the evaluation of Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in its interconnection studies. They argue that PJM must improve its approach to planning for these technologies.
The groups also critique PJM for insufficient detail on how study costs and network upgrade costs will be allocated and shared among participants. This lack of transparency, they argue, is critical for ensuring fairness.
In addition to these concerns, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities objected to PJM's exemption request for energy storage resources to interconnect to the grid without paying for transmission upgrades needed to support charging during peak load periods. The BPU claims that PJM's unrealistic assumption about energy storage charging behavior will unnecessarily drive up costs for New Jersey ratepayers.
The groups call for PJM to revise its plan to ensure faster interconnection processes, realistic modeling, and transparent cost management to support clean energy integration and grid modernization. They argue that PJM's proposal stretches the meaning of the independent entity variation beyond any reasonable interpretation or application.
PJM Interconnection expects to process about 72,000 MW in projects by mid-2025 and 230,000 MW over the next three years under its reformed process. Despite this, the groups maintain that PJM's existing interconnection process doesn't fully comply with Order 2023 and that its requested exemptions go too far.
Protests were filed by EDF Renewables, EDP Renewables North America, Longroad Energy, the WATT Coalition, Leeward Renewable Energy and RWE Clean Energy, Shell Energy North America (US), Shell New Energies US, and Savion. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other groups stated that PJM resists reform to its interconnection process and proposes very few changes to comply with Order No. 2023.
FERC approved PJM's "first-ready, first-served" interconnection reform plan in late 2022. In a compliance plan filed with FERC on May 16, PJM stated that its new interconnection process meets the objectives of Order 2023. However, the clean energy trade groups and environmental organizations argue that PJM's plan falls short of meeting these objectives and call for a revision.
[1] [https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/pjm-criticized-for-proposed-exemptions-from-ferc-order-2023] [2] [https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/pjm-proposes-to-exclude-surety-bonds-from-cluster-study-process] [3] [https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/pjm-faces-criticism-over-its-compliance-plan-for-ferc-order-2023] [4] [https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/pjm-interconnection-queue-backlog-being-addressed-under-its-reformed-process] [5] [https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/pjm-faces-criticism-over-its-compliance-plan-for-ferc-order-2023-part-2]
- The clean energy trade groups and environmental organizations have expressed concerns about PJM Interconnection's compliance plan for FERC's Order 2023, contending it falls short of meeting the order's requirements in areas like timelines, penalty enforcement, operational assumptions, and cost allocation.
- In a joint filing, these groups urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject PJM's plan for meeting FERC's new generator interconnection requirements, arguing that it aims to avoid complying with most key requirements of Order 2023.
- One of the key issues raised is PJM's failure to adhere to Order 2023’s required timelines, as their planned cluster study durations exceed the 150-day maximum mandated by the order.
- Another point of contention is PJM's proposal to reject financial surety bonds as part of its cluster study process, a standard, reliable financial tool the groups argue PJM unjustly excludes.
- The groups also criticize PJM for insufficient detail on how study costs and network upgrade costs will be allocated and shared among participants, arguing this lack of transparency is critical for ensuring fairness in the environmental-science, business, policy-and-legislation, and general-news sectors.
