PJM planners have begun studying a redesign of the Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee process with the aim of providing more discussion, documentation and transparency through the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan cycle.
“We’re looking at additional ways of doing that [rather] than the monthly meeting,” Steve Herling, vice president of planning, told the Planning Committee.
The discussions — internal for now — stem from an April 29 “Order 1000 Lessons Learned” meeting, in which PJM proposed three tracks: a reliability project process document, an energy efficiency project process document and a TEAC redesign. A fourth track to address upgrade projects also was suggested.
“We will shortly be starting discussions around the market efficiency process and decision-making,” Herling said. “We have been working internally with market folks to put together a draft set of documentation that will serve as a starting point. … Hopefully in another month, we should be getting to a point where we can air some of that with the membership.”
For starters, Herling said, planners are looking at alternatives to the 12-month planning cycle.
New 345-kV Line Proposed for Newark Airport
The most efficient solution to Newark Liberty International Airport’s need for additional energy resources is to introduce a third 345-kV line, PJM told the TEAC last week.
Because it is an immediate need, an RTEP window is not feasible, and all of the projected $43 million cost would be assigned to the local transmission owner, Public Service Electric and Gas, said TEAC Chair Paul McGlynn.
The upgrade is expected to be ready by June 2018, when the airport’s expansion is set to be completed.
The airport’s current load is about 40 MVA, but a planned new terminal will add about 33 MVA. Another 8 MVA is expected to be added by plans to extend the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) railroad.
Planned upgrades to Terminals B and C will increase the load even more.
Two new 345-kV underground cable circuits, part of the Bergen-Linden Corridor project, will serve the airport’s load. But PSE&G would be unable to restore power within 24 hours if those lines were lost, McGlynn said, necessitating an additional line.
PJM Concerned PSE&G Equipment at the End of its Life
An assessment of the 138-kV circuits on PSE&G’s Metuchen-Edison-Trenton-Burlington Corridor shows that they are at the end of their life and must be addressed, McGlynn told the TEAC.
“It would require expensive foundation work to get them back to where they need to be,” he said, noting that a survey of the transmission lines indicated that 25% of the towers are exceeding their load-carrying design capability; 35% are at between 99% and 100%; and 81% are between 95% and 100%.
“It’s at the end of life, and we need to do something about it,” he said.
The 30 miles of line from Metuchen to Trenton is about 86 years old. The 22 miles from Trenton to Burlington is 75 years old.
Also of concern is PSE&G’s Newark Switch, a 63-year-old substation with a transformer from 1927 and two others dating to 1958.
“If they were to fail, it could potentially take out the entire station,” he said.
Two DOM Projects Change Scope, Boost Cost
Two projects in the Dominion transmission zone have undergone a change in scope, increasing their cost significantly.
The cost of upgrading the overloaded Idylwood 230-kV bus has jumped from $55 million to $80 million following a detailed look at the cost of GIS breakers (gas-insulated high-voltage switchgear), permitting, labor, a security wall and transmission structures.
The project, addressing N-1 and N-1-1 thermal violations, is expected to be in service by Feb. 1, 2020.
Meanwhile, a proposal to expand the Halifax station to address thermal violations on the Halifax-Chase City 115-kV line has been scrapped because the station is located in a flood plain.
The need to build a new switching station outside of the flood plains boosted the price of the project from $26 million to $43.6 million, including the purchase of real estate.
The work is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Members Endorse Using Same Load Model for IRM study
The Planning Committee unanimously endorsed the same load model PJM used last year for the 2016 reserve requirement study, the 10-year period from 2003 to 2012.
It will reset the installed reserve margin (IRM) for the next three delivery years and create an initial IRM for the first all-Capacity Performance delivery year in 2020/21.
The results of the study are expected to be presented in September, with a vote on the IRM the following month.
Members had endorsed the assumptions for the IRM study, proposed by the Resource Adequacy Analysis Subcommittee, at their last meeting. (See “Installed Reserve Margin Study Assumptions Endorsed,” PJM Planning Committee & TEAC Briefs.)
A total of 55 candidates were studied. Two other models came close: the 12-year period from 2002 to 2013 and the 10-year span from 2004 to 2013.
The tie-breaker was determining which period achieved world load diversity, PJM’s Tom Falin said.
New Shickshinny 500-kV Switchyard Proposed in Northeast Pa.
PPL is revising its transmission line designations as a result of the new Shickshinny switchyard for Moxie Energy’s 850-MW gas-fired Freedom station outside of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The existing Susquehanna-Lackawanna 500-kV line will be split into the Susquehanna-Shickshinny line (5067) and the Shickshinny-Lackawanna line (5062).
— Suzanne Herel and Rory D. Sweeney