Planning Committee

PJM Presents Additional Details on RRI Selections

PJM Director of Interconnection Planning Donnie Bielak presented additional details about the projects selected for expedited interconnection studies through the Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI) to the Planning Committee on May 6.

The one-time program is designed to allow a limited number of resources to enter the next study cycle based on the amount of capacity they would provide, as well as their locations and expected in-service dates. (See PJM Selects 51 Projects for Expedited Interconnection Studies.)

In a May 2 announcement of the results, PJM said 51 projects totaling 11,793 MW of nameplate capacity were awarded positions in Transition Cycle 2 through the initiative, 39 of which are uprates of existing resources while 12 are “new construction” projects.

The RRI projects are expected to start coming online this year, with four to be completed in 2025, six in 2026 and 10 in 2027. One existing project receiving additional capacity interconnection rights (CIRs) was listed as being completed in 2023 in Bielak’s presentation. Each project, whether it was selected or not, has been added to PJM’s Cycle Service Request Status webpage with queue numbers AH1-674 and above; Bielak said there are no projects outside of RRI intertwined with those queue numbers.

Bielak said the initiative is considered complete by PJM, and any projects not selected will have their deposits refunded. Even if some of the projects with RRI positions withdraw from the queue, he said PJM does not plan to allow others to take their place.

Because RRI was meant to address localized resource adequacy shortfalls that PJM is projecting in 2029, stakeholders questioned why some new projects with longer construction timelines were selected over uprates that could be completed more quickly. Bielak said some new developments had characteristics that outweighed the in-service date. The ranking process awarded 35 points for unforced capacity (UCAP); 20 for effective load-carrying capability (ELCC) rating; 10 for projects sited in Dominion or BGE; 10 for being able to enter commercial operation between 2028 and 2031; 10 points for providing evidence of permits, siting or equipment procurement to support the in-service date; and 5 points for using existing transmission headroom.

Several stakeholders asked if PJM could provide more information about how specific projects were scored to the public or the applicants, but Bielak said those results “cannot be discussed in any capacity” for data confidentiality reasons.

The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Claire Lang-Ree told RTO Insider that the weighting used to rank projects led to many being selected that are unlikely to be online in time to address PJM’s projected capacity shortfall, which she also sees as a significant reliability risk the region faces. Of the 51 projects selected, 21 are expected to come online between 2029 and 2031, amounting to more than 8 GW of the expected capacity. She said that creates a risk that construction delays could result in projects being pushed beyond the time frame that RRI is targeting.

“The vast majority of that capacity in UCAP terms is coming online at the last minute or too late to help with the capacity crisis PJM is anticipating,” she said.

Lang-Ree argued PJM should have prioritized the in-service date rather than “double counting” the output of a project by having separate ELCC and UCAP values in the ranking. With shorter development schedules, she argued a design that selected more storage resources would have provided more certainty around the ability for the projects to start providing capacity in time for the start of the capacity shortfall. Of the 46 rejected RRI applications, 12 storage and hybrid resources had in-service dates prior to 2029, 17 were aimed to come online that year, and one had an in-service date in 2030.

She credited the RTO for reworking its interconnection queue to process applications more expeditiously and noted that it recently announced a partnership with Alphabet and Tapestry to use next-generation software to process interconnection requests. The next area she said PJM should focus on is creating a process for replacing retiring generation with new resources on the same day the deactivation occurs. The siloed nature of the existing CIR transfer and deactivation processes creates roadblocks for developers to take advantage of the interconnection facilities left behind after a resource goes offline, Lang-Ree said.

PJM has filed a package of changes to its CIR transfer rules with FERC, which would eliminate categorical restrictions on which resources can participate and allow applications that may consume transmission headroom. The commission has yet to issue an order on the proposal (ER25-1128). (See PJM Stakeholders Endorse Coalition Proposal on CIR Transfers.)

Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee

PJM Recommending Changes to Independence Energy Connection

PJM staff plan to recommend the Board of Managers revise the scope of the Transource Independence Energy Connection market efficiency project to abandon its eastern segment because of challenges with getting it approved.

The project includes two 230-kV lines, the western route running from the Ringgold substation in Washington County, Md., to the Rice substation in Franklin County, Pa., and the eastern route between the Conastone substation in Harford County, Md., and the Furnace Run substation in York County, Pa. While the Maryland portions of the project have been approved by the state’s Public Service Commission, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission rejected the certificate of public convenience for Transource to proceed with construction in the commonwealth. A federal court invalidated the rejection in 2023, ruling that it was based on economic protectionism rather than siting issues. Construction has not commenced on either of the lines. (See Christie Blasts PJM Pursuit of Transource Market Efficiency Project.)

Presenting an update on the project to the Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee, PJM’s Tim Horger said there are regulatory and constructability challenges with the eastern portion, leading staff to determine it no longer is worth pursuing. He said the most recent cost-benefit analysis found the original route, an alternate route modifying the eastern leg to use existing right of way and the western component alone each passed the 1.25-to-1 ratio threshold. The original had a 3.74 ratio, the alternate a 3.42 and the western-only route 3.85.

Carl Johnson, representing the PJM Public Power Coalition, said the RTO’s membership needs more information about how it conducted the analysis such that the cost-benefit ratio significantly increased for the 2025 project reevaluation. Horger said PJM can present more information about the topology and load forecast used.

Supplemental Projects

Dayton Power and Light presented a $480 million project to serve three new customers located near Jeffersonville and Wilmington, Ohio, by expanding several 345-kV substations and linking the Clinton, Fayette and Atlanta facilities with new 345-kV lines.

The Fayette and Atlanta substations would be expanded to breaker-and-a-half configurations to accommodate a 25-mile double circuit between the two sites, as well as two customer feeds from Fayette. The Clinton facility would be expanded with equipment for a new 27-mile line to Fayette and two 345-kV customer feeds. The project is in the conceptual phase with a projected in-service date in January 2031. The two Jeffersonville customers are expected to come online in September 2026 and ramp up to 1.5 GW of load by 2031, while the Wilmington customer is expected to come online in 2028 and grow to 500 MW.

The East Kentucky Power Cooperative presented a $566 million project to serve a new customer in Mason County expected to grow from 110 MW in 2026 to 2.2 GW by 2031. The customer has agreed to pay for all the interconnection costs.

The first phase of the project would construct two 1.5-mile temporary tap lines, one each on the 138-kV Spurlock-Goddard and Spurlock-Plumville lines. Next, a 345/138-kV switching station, to be named Mason County 1, would be constructed and tied into the 345-kV Spurlock-North Clark line with 1.5 miles of new lines. It would be outfitted with six 345-kV breakers, 15 138-kV breakers and two 345/138-kV transformers.

The next phase would expand the new substation with three more 345-kV breakers, 11 138-kV breakers and another 345/138-kV transformer. Another 345/138-kV switching station, named Mason County 2, would be constructed with eight 345-kV breakers, six 138-kV breakers and two 345-kV transformers. The second substation would tap into the 345-kV line between Mason County 1 and North Clark, and a new line would be constructed to Spurlock.

The final phase would expand Mason County 2 with three 345-kV breakers, 14 138-kV breakers and an additional 345/138-kV transformer. A third substation, Mason County 3, would be built and cut into lines between Spurlock and the two other Mason County facilities. A new 11-mile 345-kV line would be built to the existing Stuart substation. The temporary taps from the first phase would be removed when the rest of the work is complete.

PPL presented a $19.4 million project to rework portions of the Susquehanna switchyard to serve a 1,440-MW customer in Berwick, Pa. The customer is set to come in service in 2026 with 120 MW, growing to the full load in 2030. The transmission solution is in the development phase with a projected in-service date of May 30, 2028.

Dominion presented a $145 million project to address several violations in the Meadowville Load Area in Chesterfield County, Va. The work would rebuild the 230-kV Carson-Clubhouse line with new double-circuit structures and an additional 230-kV conductor. An additional 5.5 miles of 230-kV lines between Hopewell and the planned Sycamore Springs substation would be reconductored. The project is in the conceptual phase and is envisioned to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2030.

The company also presented a $135 million project to address thermal violations in the White Oak area of Henrico County, Va., through the 2025 Do No Harm analysis. Segments of the 230-kV Techpark Place-Darbytown, Chickahominy-Elmont, Chickahominy-Elko and Chickahominy-Bermuda Hundred lines would be reconductored, totaling around 40 miles. The project is in the conceptual phase and projected to go in service on Dec. 1, 2030.