The PJM Board of Managers authorized $1 billion in transmission projects at its meeting on Tuesday.
The projects include new construction, end-of-life replacements and upgrades to address reliability criteria violations and relieve congestion throughout the RTO’s 13-state footprint, which includes D.C. The board approved upgrades in areas served by American Electric Power; American Transmission Systems Inc.; Commonwealth Edison; Dominion Energy; Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky; East Kentucky Power Cooperative; Pennsylvania Electric; and Public Service Enterprise Group.
“Maintaining the reliability of the grid is paramount and involves continuously reviewing small and large transmission projects,” PJM CEO Andy Ott said in a statement.
The two costliest projects are both in PSEG’s zone: one in northern New Jersey near New York City and one in the southern part of the state near Philadelphia. The northern project will consist of a 69-kV transmission network at an estimated cost of $197 million, while the southern project will consist of another 69-kV estimated at $98 million. Constructing a substation in ComEd’s zone will cost about $90 million.
The approvals also include results from the first proposal window of the 2017 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan, which closed on Aug. 25. PJM had requested proposals to correct 40 reliability violation flowgates identified in a reliability analysis for 2022. The RTO received 51 proposals from 10 entities addressing nine target zones and added five additional “immediate need” baseline upgrades that will be performed by incumbent transmission owners. (See “RTEP Window Results,” PJM PC/TEAC Briefs: Sept. 14, 2017.)
— Rory D. Sweeney