PJM is proposing rules that would exempt certain substation equipment from competitive bidding because issues stemming from existing components are typically resolved by equipment upgrades, Mark Sims, transmission planning manager for the RTO, explained during last week’s Planning Committee meeting.

Exempting those types of upgrades, which won’t result in greenfield proposals, from competitive bidding will prevent the process from becoming overly complicated, PJM believes.

While transmission-level transformer upgrades were initially listed in the scope, they have been removed from the proposed rules. Instrument-level transformers will be exempted.

If the analysis shows that a greenfield project is possible, PJM would open a competitive window, Sims said.

“We wanted to avoid situations where we had to make a lot of judgements,” said Steve Herling, vice president of planning.

Gas, Solar Lead Interconnection Queue as PJM Seeks to Streamline Process

Natural gas generation represents the majority of projects seeking interconnection since 2011, although solar is quickly increasing, according to a queue analysis presented by PJM’s David Egan.

Solar projects are typically seeking 60 to 70% capacity interconnection rights — or even more for those utilizing panel-tracking technology, Egan said. Tens of thousands of additional megawatts remain in the queue, partly because PJM receives more than a third of interconnection requests the day before the queue closes, with more than half of them arriving within the final week. PJM is working on ways to increase earlier submissions.

“We’re actively trying to relieve that backlog,” he said.

“These numbers are way down from where they were several years ago,” Herling said. “We’ve made substantial progress, but there’s more work to do.”

PJM Largely in Compliance with Interconnection NOPR

PJM has already implemented many of the rules proposed in FERC’s Dec. 15 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on generator interconnection, Aaron Berner, manager of interconnection analysis, said during an explanation of the new proposal.

Among the many provisions, the NOPR would require transmission providers that conduct cluster studies to develop a periodic restudy process; modify large generator interconnection agreements to require that transmission owners and interconnection customers mutually agree to have the owner opt to initially self-fund the costs of network upgrades; and require RTOs to establish an interconnection dispute resolution process.

The new rules would improve certainty, transparency and other aspects of the process, Berner said. The proposal comes after the American Wind Energy Association filed a petition with FERC that prompted a technical conference on the issue.

The RTO has no protocols for NOPRs, PJM’s Dave Anders explained, but it does have precedent. With the need to review and respond within 60 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register, going through the stakeholder process will likely take too long, he said.

Load Estimates Drop in Mid-Cycle RTEP Assumptions

The long-term proposal window for the 24-month market-efficiency cycle of the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan closes Feb. 28, PJM staff told stakeholders during last week’s Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee meeting. The mid-cycle window, open from January to April, will update major assumptions, including load and demand forecasts, fuel prices, generation expansion and topology. Proposals will be reviewed until October, with final determinations published in December.

The mid-cycle updates include a drop in expected annual peak load compared with last year’s forecast, with 2031’s projection down 5%.

Sue Glatz, PJM manager of infrastructure coordination, confirmed that projects already under construction based on old assumptions won’t be scrapped if they aren’t economic under the new ones. Paul McGlynn, senior director of system planning, said most approved RTEP projects have such a healthy benefit-to-cost ratio that a slight load change won’t make much of a difference.

Additionally, Baltimore Gas and Electric’s Crane generating units and Exelon’s Quad Cities have withdrawn their deactivation notifications.

Artificial Island Finalists to Be Announced at Special TEAC

PJM plans to recommend at least two finalists when it presents its re-evaluation of the Artificial Island project to the Board of Managers in April, Herling said. Staff are nearly done with reanalysis of the project, PJM’s first competitive solicitation under Order 1000, and are developing a “fairly substantial document” to present to the board. Herling said his staff will schedule a special meeting of the TEAC to go over the plans.

The document will address issues previously raised by stakeholders, and changes to the project’s scope will reduce project costs by about $130 million, Herling estimated. However, the reanalysis will not address cost allocation, which has been a contentious issue with stakeholders.

Requests for Information Dominate TEAC

Staff’s review of RTEP proposals elicited a barrage of questions — and requests for the RTO to provide more information.

American Municipal Power’s Ed Tatum led the inquiry, repeatedly asking what criteria made certain proposals preferable and why alternatives hadn’t been considered.

He said that American Electric Power had provided a “nice document” explaining its infrastructure-replacement process and guidelines in response to his questions from previous TEAC meetings. “This is a good start, and we look forward to getting more detail,” Tatum said.

LS Power’s Sharon Segner questioned why certain projects hadn’t been opened to a competitive bidding window.

“I don’t think it should be an automatic assumption that just because something is ‘immediate need,’ there is no window for it because that’s not what the tariff says,” she said.

PJM’s Mike Herman said staff will attempt to indicate whether a project should be subject to competitive bidding.

Stakeholders were also concerned about additions to the Bergen-Linden Corridor project in Public Service Electric and Gas’ northern New Jersey district.

PJM is recommending that four shunt reactors be installed to add 600 MVAr of reactive power to address potential voltage violations after the current project is constructed.

Jim Jablonski, executive director of the Public Power Association of New Jersey, asked how the project, which already has a $1.2 billion price tag, produced another $90 million in costs.

PSE&G’s Esam Khadr explained that retirement of generating units with reactive capabilities has been a major driver of the additional issues. Building underground is the only option in the region because of congestion. However, underground circuits so close together act as capacitor plates that create high-charging and high-voltage problems, McGlynn said.

— Rory D. Sweeney