PJM is rejecting a study that suggests it could avoid extending the 1,295-MW Brandon Shores generator’s life by installing storage and reconductoring several lines outside Baltimore. 

The analysis, conducted by GridLab and Telos Energy, found that installing a 600-MW battery at the Brandon Shores point of interconnection and reconductoring several 115-kV lines could provide the grid services offered by the generator and be in place in time for the 2025 retirement requested by plant owner Talen Energy.  

The study estimated the battery would cost $452 million after tax credits and could produce $348 million in net revenues over 20 years. Comparing Brandon Shores to other generators that have received RMR contracts, the study estimated that continuing to run Brandon Shores could cost $258 million per year. 

“We think this is a model that could be exported throughout PJM and even in other ISO regions as well: opportunities to replace retiring generation with storage as a means to avoid an RMR and … have a stronger system, a more reliable system, instead of paying for an uneconomical plant to stay online for several more years until transmission upgrades come in,” Gridlab Senior Program Manager Casey Baker said. 

PJM is in talks with Talen Energy to keep the generator running until its $796 million Grid Solutions Package is completed in 2028 to address expected reliability violations. The project includes a new 500-kV substation, a new 500-kV line between the Peach Bottom and Graceton substations and a 230-kV line from Graceton to a new 230-kV Batavia Road substation outside Baltimore. (See FERC Approves PJM RTEP Projects over State Protests.)  

PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields told RTO Insider that a battery installation is not a viable alternative to an RMR for Brandon Shores. (See “Brandon Shores Deactivation to Require $786M in Grid Upgrades” PJM PC/TEAC Briefs: June 6, 2023.) 

“PJM does not believe that a battery solution would address the comprehensive reliability needs in the BGE and surrounding areas, be able to be put in place by 2025, or be economically feasible,” Shields said in an email. “The Brandon Shores RMR is a must to maintain regional reliability until any additional enhancements could even be considered in the future.”  

Sierra Club Senior Attorney Casey Roberts said she believes there is time for PJM to consider alternatives to keeping Brandon Shores online. 

“The deactivation dates are June 2025, so we think there’s actually a pretty good amount of time for PJM to look at alternative solutions and see what else can be implemented. PJM has expressed some urgency with nailing down an RMR agreement with Talen for Brandon Shores as soon as possible, but in our view it’s better to take a little bit of extra time to make sure you have the most cost-effective and reliable solution rather than rushing to the thing you’ve always done,” she said. 

She pointed to the example of the Petersburg Generating Station retirement owned by AES Indiana, where the utility is planning on switching two of the four coal units to natural gas, retiring the other two and installing an 800-MWh battery. 

“We have definitely seen examples of coal plant sites and interconnection rights being repurposed for varying forms of clean energy, also for natural gas, but it’s essentially a way of seamlessly replacing the grid services provided by a retiring asset by something else. … Some of those examples are storage,” Roberts told RTO Insider. 

Roberts said that RTOs can be limited by a status-quo bias that pushes them to prefer solutions and resources that their staff have prior experience with. 

“PJM doesn’t see itself as being in the business of procuring generation, so in the example where an RMR could be avoided by the installation of wind or solar, for example, PJM just doesn’t see that as a tool in their toolbox right now. They see their only tool as to procure transmission technologies … or to pay the retiring generator to stick around for a few more years,” she said, adding that other RTOs do have processes to procure the reliability services provided by thermal resources. She noted that the Maryland Public Service Commission had protested PJM’s Grid Solutions Package filing, arguing that the RTO’s proposed solution had not considered a state law requiring the development of 3 GW of storage in the state, which the PSC argued provided an opportunity for PJM to work with the state to find alternatives (ER23-2612). 

Tori Leonard, spokesperson for the PSC, said the commission appreciates the study and understands that PJM will be providing a full assessment of its findings. 

To conduct the study, GridLab and Telos consulted with PJM to perform their own reliability analysis, confirming that the deactivation of Brandon Shores without any modifications to the grid would result in reliability violations. The most severe line overloads were found under summer peak load conditions with an unplanned outage occurring during a maintenance outage — an N-1-1 scenario.  

The worst voltage collapse contingency was seen during an extended winter peak with high generation or transmission outages, such as the December 2022 Winter Storm Elliott. Baker said that the modeling showed that if the summer violations were resolved, winter needs would also be met. 

In an announcement of the analysis, the Sierra Club argued that storage combined with the line reconductoring identified could not only meet the needs until the Grid Solutions Package’s completion, but that the battery’s characteristics could bring added reliability over the retiring coal generator. 

“The battery storage solution can also be more reliable than the coal solution, since batteries can start up and inject power far more quickly than a coal plant. Many reliability events arise on short notice due to unexpected outages of other power facilities, so the quick response of the battery could make all the difference in keeping the lights on,” the announcement said.  

“Unfortunately, PJM lacks a framework to evaluate alternatives like this to RMR agreements. Instead of clearly defining the reliability need and seeking the most cost-effective solution, PJM assumes only the retiring generator can provide reliability, and will pay whatever it takes to keep them online … PJM’s approach reflects a missed opportunity to uphold its responsibility to ensure bulk power system reliability while also supporting state clean energy policies.”