PJM’s plans to conduct winter tests of infrequently used generators could cost as much as $15.9 million, officials told the Operating Committee last week.
PJM’s Eric Hsia said a simulation indicates it would have cost PJM $743,000 to $795,000 in generator payments to test 1,000 MW of generation on Dec. 10, 2013, although some of the costs might have been offset by energy market savings.
Mike Bryson, executive director of system operations, said PJM hopes to test up to 1,000 MW of generation on each of 20 days in December 2014, making the “worst-case” total cost as much as $15.9 million.
The tests would be limited to generators that haven’t run in the prior eight weeks and days when temperatures are below 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bryson said the testing will likely be phased out if PJM’s Capacity Performance proposal, which includes new performance penalties and incentives, is approved. “Once the penalties are in place, this wouldn’t be needed,” Bryson said. (See related story, Members, Monitor Skeptical of Capacity Overhaul.)
John Farber of the Delaware Public Service Commission said customers shouldn’t have to pay for testing of generators that are receiving capacity payments to be available all 8,760 hours of the year.
“Customers are supposed to be paying for annual capacity,” Farber said. “They shouldn’t have to pay more.”
The testing costs could be at least partially offset by energy market savings if it reduces the forced-outage rate during the winter, one stakeholder said. PJM’s worst-case analysis “only shows half of the equation,” he said.
The OC will be asked to approve manual changes adding proposed testing rules in October. The proposed rules do not specify how testing costs would be allocated.
Meanwhile, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation will conduct a webinar Oct. 2 on “Winter Preparation for Severe Cold Weather.” The webinar will include a discussion of lessons learned from the 2014 polar vortex and the February 2011 rolling blackouts in the Southwest U.S.
