Planning Committee

1st Read on Manual Revisions to Eliminate 1st Use

PJM presented revisions to Manual 14H: New Service Requests Cycle Process to replace its standard for determining whether a resource point of interconnection on a distribution facility falls under federal or state jurisdiction. (See “Stakeholders Endorse Reworked Interconnection Jurisdiction,” PJM MRC/MC Briefs: Aug. 20, 2025.)

The language, presented to the Planning Committee on April 7, would conform with FERC’s approval of PJM’s proposal to shift to a “bright-line” test that would classify most POI over 69 kV as being under federal jurisdiction and lower-voltage facilities as being state-regulated. It includes a carve-out for instances in which a transmission owner or relevant electric retail regulatory authority has designated the POI as being either state or federal jurisdictional. The reigning “first-use” standard considers the first wholesale resource POI on a distribution facility to be state jurisdictional and all subsequent resources using that POI to be federal.

PJM Presents CIR Transfer Manual Revisions

PJM presented additional revisions to Manual 14H to conform with FERC’s approval of a streamlined process for transferring capacity interconnection rights from deactivating resources to replacement projects at the same POI (ER26-403). (See FERC Approves PJM CIR Transfer Proposal.)

Eligible replacement resources would go through an interconnection process with a smaller slate of studies to be completed, allowing for a shorter processing time of 180 days. Resources would be required to be able to enter service within three years of applying for a CIR transfer, and their capacity output would be limited to the CIRs held by the deactivating resource. Only projects with minor network upgrades would be allowed to proceed.

The commission initially rejected the proposal on the grounds that its aim of creating a fast-tracked pathway for replacement resources was undermined by the inclusion of an option for developers to extend the in-service requirement for their project and an exception from the three-year requirement for resource types broadly recognized to have lengthy development timelines, such as nuclear.

PJM Proposes Retiring Manuals 14A and 14E

PJM presented a pair of first reads to retire Manual 14A: New Services Request Process and Manual 14E: Upgrade and Transmission Interconnection Requests, as their contents have been shifted to Manual 14H. The documents would be retired on June 30.

Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee

Supplemental Projects for Large Loads

American Electric Power presented a $156.6 million transmission project to serve an 800-MW customer near Piketon, Ohio, by constructing a 345-kV substation to be named Monza.

The facility would connect to the Don Marquis substation with 1.8 miles of 345-kV line and to the customer site with two 0.2-mile 345-kV lines. Don Marquis would be expanded with four circuit breakers to support the additional lines. The project is in the scoping phase with an expected in-service date of Dec. 31, 2027.

The utility presented six needs statements for large customers seeking interconnection across Ohio:

• • a customer in Hilliard seeking to increase its peak load by 185 MW;
  • a customer in Pickaway County for 179 MW, to increase to 358 MW;
  • a New Albany customer seeking to increase its anticipated load at the planned Curleys substation by 638 MW;
  • a customer seeking to bring 415 MW to Johnstown by June 1, 2030;
  • a customer requesting service for 787 MW in Sunbury by June 1, 2030; and
  • a customer interconnecting 429 MW in New Albany by June 1, 2030.

PPL presented a need statement to serve a customer seeking 230-kV service for about 2 GW of load near Mount Carmel, Pa. The load is expected to come online initially in 2028 at 290 MW and ramp to 500 MW in 2029, 1,250 MW in 2031 and reach its full consumption in 2033. The utility also presented needs for 300-MW customers in Archbald and Allenwood, Pa.

Exelon presented a $174.5 million project to serve a biotech company and data center in Philadelphia by constructing a 230-kV substation, named Bellwether, cutting into the Island Road-Navy Yard line. The project would begin with the installation of a temporary radial 230-kV line from the Elmwood substation to the customer to serve the initial 140-MW load at the site. The second phase would construct the 20-breaker Bellwether substation and two feeds to the customer to supply its full 500-MW consumption. The project is in the engineering phase, with the first phase to be completed by Dec. 31, 2029, and the second by June 1, 2031.

The company proposed installing a second 500/230-kV transformer and circuit breakers at the Limerick substation to improve operational flexibility for maintenance outages. The $93 million project is in the engineering phase with an expected in-service date of June 1, 2032.

Exelon also presented a $181.3 million project to construct a 10-mile 230-kV line between the Navy Yard and Richmond substations and replace breakers and disconnect and bus equipment at Richmond. The project would provide a third 230-kV source to the Navy Yard substation. The project is in the engineering phase with a projected in-service date of Sept. 1, 2032.

Another Exelon project would rebuild sections of the 230-kV lines between the Linwood, Claymont and Edgemoor substations for $145.4 million. The scope includes the full 7.1 miles of the Claymont-Edgemoor line, 8.1 miles of Edgemoor-Linwood and 1 mile of Claymont-Linwood. The project is in the engineering phase with an expected in-service date of June 1, 2031.

Dominion Energy presented a $64.3 million project to serve a 234-MW data center in Loudoun County, Va. The project would construct a new substation, named Firehouse, cutting into the 230-kV BECO-Paragon Park line. The project is in the engineering phase with a projected in-service date of Dec. 31, 2030.

Serving another data center in Loudoun County, which would scale to 282.6 MW by summer 2030, would require the construction of a 230-kV substation, named Auto World, cutting into the Paragon Park-Golden line. The $31.8 million project is in the conceptual phase with a possible in-service date of Dec. 17, 2027.

Dominion also identified a need to replace 230-kV capacitor banks at eight substations to avoid possible voltage violations and cascading outage scenarios as the amount of load in the region is expected to grow. The 20- to 25-year lifespan of the capacitors is being impacted by increased deployment, overvoltage transients exceeding 110% of the units’ ratings and larger inrush current. The replacements would take place in 2027-2028 at the Pleasant View, Greenwich, Liberty, Clifton, Lanexa, Jefferson Street, Valley and Newport News substations.