PJM will suspend its Day Ahead market if it loses Internet service under a contingency plan given approved Thursday.

PJM’s Tariff and Operating Agreement do not specify procedures for responding to an extraordinary event, such as an Internet failure, that disables the RTO’s eMKT application.

Under the tariff changes approved by the Markets and Reliability Committee, all market settlements would be done in real time in such circumstances.

The plan assumes that PJM’s internal processes are working but that eMKT and other Internet-based services are not functioning. Generator dispatch may be based on the most recent offers received by PJM before the loss of the web.

The deadlines established for clearing the day-ahead market do not apply if PJM is unable to obtain market participant bid/offer data due to extraordinary circumstances. All settlements, including Financial Transmission Right target allocations, will be based on real-time quantities and prices.

If the day-ahead market does not clear, the rebid period — typically from 4 to 6 PM — is cancelled. If day-ahead clearing is significantly delayed, PJM may establish a revised bidding period.

Extraordinary circumstances are defined as “a technical malfunction that limits, prohibits or otherwise interferes with the ability of the Office of the Interconnection to obtain Market Participant bid/offer data prior to 11:59 p.m. on the day before the affected Operating Day.”

The tariff changes were approved without objection. However, Marji Philips, RTO services director of Hess Corp., said stakeholders may need to consider additional protections to ensure load serving entities aren’t forced to pay for power that doesn’t flow under a blackout ruled a Force Majeure event.

With no load to supply, generation could buy back its commitment at no cost, Philips said, while the load might be forced to pay for the power it scheduled.

“If you schedule 5,000 MW day-ahead you could be wiped out,” she said. Phillips said she hopes to make a presentation on the issue at a future meeting of the Market Implementation Committee.