The PJM Board of Managers last week approved construction of seven transmission projects proposed in response to FERC Order 1000 competitive solicitations. The projects have an estimated cost of $490 million.

One, to address reliability violations in the AEP transmission zone, was selected from among 91 proposals received in response to the competitive window PJM opened in June to fix reliability, thermal and voltage violations. The board had approved 19 other projects from that group in October.

The board also approved six projects from among 23 proposals submitted under a second competitive window, which opened in August to address potential violations not included in the first solicitation.

With the addition of the projects to the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan, PJM has authorized $28.27 billion in additions and upgrades to resolve reliability violations and reduce congestion since 2000.

“Through the competitive windows, we are seeing more alternatives than we would have otherwise,” Mike Kormos, executive vice president for operations, said in a statement. “In some cases, as in this last review, we are seeing alternative solutions that address the problem at a lesser cost than originally estimated.”

— Suzanne Herel