VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — Transmission reliability projects of less than 200 kV will be exempt from competitive proposal windows under Operating Agreement changes approved by the Planning Committee last week.

Such projects are almost always assigned to incumbent transmission owners because the solutions involve upgrades to existing transmission facilities and are located within, and allocated to, a single transmission zone.

PJM said the change will allow its engineers to focus on projects more likely to result in a greenfield project open to competition.

If the threshold had been in place for the 2014 and 2015 windows, it would have exempted 534 flowgates, said PJM’s Sue Glatz. The exemption will not apply to market efficiency projects.

The new rule contains two caveats that would require projects under 200 kV to go through a proposal window. In essence, they would be scenarios in which one or more projects could eliminate multiple reliability violations. (See “Action Delayed on Voltage Threshold for Competitive Projects” in PJM Planning Committee Briefs.)

Competitive developers previously had expressed reservations about the new threshold.

Sharon Segner of LS Power opposed the change because it does not provide a “catch-all” at the end of the planning process to put the project out for bid if it is determined to involve regional cost allocation.

“We believe that Order 1000 clearly says if there is regional cost allocation associated with a project, it needs to be opened to the competition,” she said.

PJM Vice President of Planning Steve Herling said performing a second analysis would defeat the purpose of the new rule.

“The idea of literally getting to the end and having a solution to recommend … and then stopping to bid the project out on essentially cost issues is not where we want to go,” he said, adding that PJM is “hoping” the screens it has in place will capture such projects.

Segner responded, “Hope doesn’t give us that protection from a new entrant standpoint. … Hope isn’t enough in light of Order 1000.”

PJM to Send Five Market Efficiency Projects to Board

Five market efficiency projects, all in the ComEd zone, will be presented to the Board of Managers for its approval next month.

Four involve upgrading capacitors at the Brambleton, Ashburn, Shelhorn and Liberty substations. The other is an upgrade to the 345-kV Loretto-Wilton Center line.

PJM planners also will recommend that the board advance the Hanover Pike baseline project, designated to Baltimore Gas and Electric, from a completion date of 2021 to 2019. While it remains in the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan based on its original designation as a reliability project, PJM is studying whether it might also provide market efficiency benefits.

Segner opposed the acceleration and noted that Northeast Transmission Development, an LS Power company, had expressed its objection as well in a letter to PJM.

Northeast Transmission previously had proposed a Keysers Run project that she said also would solve the Hanover Pike issue at a savings of about $46 million. The Keysers Run project had been identified as meeting the threshold for approval as a market efficiency project, she said.

“We think this is incredibly inappropriate in the middle of the cycle to take a project with an in-service date of 2021 and pull the project into the market efficiency process,” she said.

Herling said the project would remain with BGE despite the change in its status.

“We’re struggling with taking a project away from a designated entity once it’s been awarded,” he said. “That’s really the crux of the matter.”

Proposal Window to Open by End of January

PJM expects to open the first Regional Transmission Expansion Plan window of 2016 in the next few weeks.

Regardless of previous registrations, interested members must register before the window opens. The registration will be good for the year.

PJM’s new up-front, non-refundable project fee will go into effect for this window.

There is no fee to assess any project less than $20 million. There is a $5,000 fee to study projects from $20 million to $100 million. Projects that cost more will be charged a $30,000 fee. (See “PJM Lowers Proposed Tx Project Study Fee” in PJM Planning Committee Briefs.)

Phase Angle Regulators Qualify for Transmission Rights

PJM has determined that phase angle regulator (PAR) technology is eligible for transmission injection rights under the Tariff. The Planning Committee endorsed a new section to Manual 14E: Merchant Transmission Specific Requirements making that clear.

PJM’s review was requested in November 2014 by PSEG Energy Resources and Trading. (See “PAR Transmission and Withdrawal Rights” in PJM Planning Committee Briefs.)

Projects will be subject to automatic control. The guidelines also recommend that the initial “step size” of a facility’s output not exceed 20 MW when transitioning from zero flow because of concerns that a larger step could jeopardize stability. PARs will be studied based on proposed interconnection location on a case-by-case basis to determine impacts.

Task Force will Create Design Standards for Competitive Projects

The Planning Committee approved a charter for the Designated Entity Standards Task Force, which will set minimum design requirements for competitively solicited facilities.

The task force grew out of a problem statement approved in July following a review of the RTO’s initial Order 1000 experiences.

The standards will apply to transmission lines, substations and system protection and control design and coordination.

The task is expected to take 12 to 24 months.

— Suzanne Herel