PJM will hold a series of workshops to explore potential reform of the interconnection process in response to an evolving interconnection queue that includes more renewable and storage resources seeking to join the system.
Ken Seiler, Vice President – Planning, introduced the initiative at the Oct. 6 meeting of the Planning Committee.
“The process has served us well over the past 20 years, but we continue to see a lot of change,” Seiler told the Planning Committee. “We’ve also had a lot of feedback from stakeholders, and based on that feedback and our observations – with increasing volumes of requests, and the size of interconnection requests dropping, and the changing fuel mix in the queue – we decided it’s time to take a fresh look at the interconnection process, and we’d like to solicit and gain your help.”
A number of PJM stakeholders representing broad interests have expressed a desire for PJM to analyze the interconnection process.
Some recommended reform may need to advance through the standard stakeholder process, so PJM cannot commit to definitive changes through the workshops – but staff is looking forward to engaging stakeholders in the discussion, Seiler said.
In addition, potential reforms could require policy changes from FERC, as the principles behind PJM’s administration of the interconnection queue are, in large measure, embodied in FERC Order 2003 that was first approved over 17 years ago.
The workshops are expected to begin this fall and are planned as follows:
Session 1: A Review of the Interconnection Process
PJM will conduct a thorough review of the interconnection process as background education for stakeholders. PJM will discuss trends it is seeing within the queue, changes already made within the interconnection process to address these trends, and opportunities for further reform from PJM’s perspective.
Session 2: Stakeholder Presentations
This session will provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to express their concerns about PJM’s interconnection process.
Session 3: PJM Response to Stakeholder Presentations
This session will provide PJM an opportunity to respond to the stakeholder presentations.
Session 4: Path Forward
PJM will moderate a discussion regarding the “path forward” for reforms suggested by stakeholders that PJM hopes to explore and possibly adopt.
Since the inception of the PJM generation interconnection process in 1999, PJM has studied 661,528 MW and interconnected and energized 71,462 MW.
Of the 122,000 MW currently in the queue, roughly 88% – or about 108,000 MW – represent renewable resources.
Original source: PJM