PJM officials said last week they have acquired sufficient new black start capacity to replace coal-fired units that will retire over the next year due to environmental rules.
PJM’s black start capacity will decline to 8,070 MW (150 units) from 8,720 MW (195 units), PJM’s Dave Schweizer told the Market Implementation Committee Wednesday.
Schweizer said PJM will have adequate supplies despite the reduction because of a redefinition of “critical load” and a rule change allowing units in one zone to provide service to others.
The redefinition — which will include units with hot start times of four hours or less — will increase the number of critical load units to 600 from 475 while reducing the total capacity to 2,910 MW from 4,780 MW.
PJM’s black start costs for 2016-17 will total more than $72 million, a 1.8% increase over 2015-16, according to an analysis by the Independent Market Monitor. Some zones, such as Dominion (+39%) and DPL (+27%), will see large increases, while others, such as Commonwealth Edison (-30%), will see sharp drops.
The RTO completed a solicitation for new black start resources because the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics rule (MATs), which takes effect next year, will result in the shuttering of dozens of coal-fired plants.
PJM will attempt to win stakeholder approval for limited changes to the compensation rules for black start units and for a plan for selecting “backstop” resources for regions that fail to secure service through competitive solicitations.
In February, stakeholders rejected two proposals that would have boosted payments to existing black start units by at least 40%. On July 31, the Markets and Reliability Committee will consider smaller compensation changes. (See PJM to Seek Smaller Black Start Changes.)
