Concerned its restart of the former Three Mile Island nuclear plant could be constrained for years, Constellation Energy is asking FERC for waivers to parts of PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff.

Constellation’s March 31 request to FERC (ER26-2028) entails transferring capacity interconnection rights from Units 3 and 4 at its Eddystone Generating Station near Philadelphia to Unit 1 at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, which it renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center.

As it stands, numerous regionally planned transmission projects must be completed before Crane can be fully deliverable, Constellation said.

Those projects have scheduled in-service dates as late as December 2030 but many of them already have experienced years of delays and could be delayed further, Constellation said.

Constellation has moved the expected completion date for Crane forward to the second half of 2027, and Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez said during a March 31 conference call with financial analysts that the company still expects to meet that goal despite the potential delays outlined in the FERC filing.

“I want to assure you we are working on that with PJM, and we continue to expect to start this unit in ’27,” he said.

The subject was not raised again during the call, either by Constellation officials or by analysts.

A company spokesperson elaborated April 7 via email:

“The Crane restart remains on track for the second half of 2027, and we continue to expect to be able to deliver energy to the grid at that time. While PJM projected 2031 for full deliverability of the facility based on the preliminary results of its first phase interconnection study, Constellation is actively engaged with various parties, including our utility partners, to evaluate a range of potential options to move that schedule forward.”

A PJM spokesperson said: “PJM recognizes the urgency of bringing new generation online as quickly as possible. We expect to clear up to 30 GW of projects for interconnection this year, including Crane. We are committed to connecting resources quickly and safely while maintaining the reliability of the grid and the integrity of the interconnection process.”

As of April 7, the PJM Independent Market Monitor and The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel had motioned to intervene on the request in the FERC docket.

Constellation in its request to FERC noted the transmission projects identified as contingent facilities were planned and approved before Constellation asked PJM to include Crane in its Reliability Resource Initiative, the effort to expedite interconnection of new capacity in a market with potential capacity deficits looming. (See PJM Selects 51 Projects for Expedited Interconnection Studies.)

These contingent facilities include hundreds of miles of new 500-kV and 765-kV lines that are as far away as West Virginia and have a timeline stretching to December 2030, Constellation wrote.

Rather than wait for the work to be completed, the company is requesting a tariff waiver to remove Eddystone 3 and 4 from capacity resource status and a waiver allowing it to transfer Eddystone’s capacity interconnection rights to Crane.

Eddystone 3 and 4, each about 50 years old, had been scheduled for retirement May 31, 2025, but U.S. Department of Energy 202(c) orders have kept the two 380-MW gas/oil units online. (See DOE Extends Eddystone Emergency Order Through May.)

However, DOE specifically directed that the Eddystone units are not considered capacity resources and makes the case for transferring its capacity interconnection rights, Constellation pointed out.

Constellation added the waivers it seeks entail no known harm to third parties, no delay to PJM Transition Cycle No. 2, no effects to other projects and no market power concerns — the Independent Market Monitor already determined there were no market power concerns from deactivating Eddystone 3 and 4.

“Simply put, this is a Goldilocks opportunity,” Constellation wrote. “These circumstances present a one-time opportunity for the commission to ensure that more than 800 MW of baseload, dispatchable capacity can support customers and the grid as quickly as possible.”