Meghan Nutting

PJM issued a Hot Weather Alert with expected temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s over the next 10 days. To ensure grid reliability during this hot spell, the alert is in effect from June 17 through June 21, and may be extended based on updated forecasts. This alert prepares transmission and generation operators for significant increases in electricity demand. However, PJM Interconnection’s currently has the generation capacity and transmission capability to meet the expected demand on the system during the heat wave, but extended periods of extreme heat does have the potential to stress the electric system and cause reliability challenges. It's interesting to note that in comparison to 2023, on the solar side, the biggest projects include the 427 MW Fox Squirrel Solar Farm, 150 MW phase of the Fox Squirrel Solar Farm, which will have 577 MW of capacity once fully operational later this year, however, the 325 MW AEUG Union Solar Project in Union County, Ohio is expected to support the grid this summer. The 2023 Cumulative Capacity of the renewables in PJM was around 220,827 MW, and they plan to add over 10,000 MW in the following years wherein 95% of the projects are all renewable generation sources. Solar energy will definitely play a key role this summer.

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Check out what Justin Spencer has to say about the potential impacts on energy efficiency of PJM's proposal to eliminate energy efficiency capacity payments. We hope the impacts are small, but there's plenty of cause for concern.

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We need these initiatives in India soon : In 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a mid-term reliability (MTR) mandate requiring utilities to procure 1,000 MW of non-weather-dependent, non-battery, zero-emission energy to increase the reliability of the state’s electric grid. This decision catalyzed demand for geothermal, which provides firm, carbon-free power, filling gaps left by weather-dependent renewables like solar and wind. https://lnkd.in/dTkRDs2P

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A bipartisan permitting reform bill was released on Monday. The proposed legislation supports FERC's authority to approve transmission lines and paves the way to require interregional transmission planning. If passed, the law would also require planners to consider advanced conductors and reconductoring in order to maximize current transmission capabilities. Read more about the new bill and the industry response in the article below. ⬇️ #FERC #Transmission #USEnergy #KinectSolar

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Orders 1920 and 1977 to help clear the path for regional transmission development, while Congress is considering a long-awaited federal permitting reform plan. Can these policies change transmission's trajectory? This POWERGRID webinar tomorrow will feature perspectives from transmission utilities, developers, and regional grid planners 👉 https://ow.ly/2IFc50UiZuw #Transmission #FERC #EnergyWebinar #energyreliability #PowerGrid

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⚡Building a Unified Energy Market for the West!⚡ Today, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative Launch Committee released its final Step 2 proposal, laying out recommendations to establish an independent, multi-state entity capable of delivering a regional wholesale electricity market for 11 Western states. The Pathways Initiative aims to create a governance structure that puts customers and public interest protections at its core, while respecting each state's independence. The effort is proof positive that a truly diverse group of energy stakeholders from across the West can come together, collaborate, and find common ground to advance a more reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy system.   "Pathways is a testament to the strength of commitment to broader regional coordination that maximizes customer benefits,” said CalCCA Chief Policy Officer and Pathways Launch Committee Member, Evelyn Kahl. “CalCCA proudly supports this collaborative vision and appreciates the contributions of so many diverse voices.”   CalCCA wishes to thank Pathways leaders Kathleen Staks/Western Freedom, Pamela Sporborg/Portland General Electric, Spencer Gray/Northwest & Intermountain Power Producers Coalition, and Jeff Nelson/Southern California Edison. Special appreciation to Randy Howard/Northern California Power Agency and Marc Joseph/International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for supporting the final Step 2 proposal.   The Launch Committee will vote on the proposal at its monthly stakeholder meeting on November 22. More information including the proposal and fact sheet here: https://lnkd.in/ecenbNYE.   #PowerfulTogether #BrightEnergyFuture

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As some grids experience blackouts on ground in northern regions during 2024 G5 CMEs, some energy operators are pausing non-essential maintenance and testing activities and our operators (both distribution and plant.

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Virtual Power Plants and rising capacity costs. While I live in a jurisdiction where bidding for capacity is not a thing, I have been following closely what has been happening to PJM's capacity costs thanks to great coverage by Utility Dive (http://tiny.cc/4a8mzz). While capacity prices are rising by upwards of 10-fold, sending a price signal for new capacity to be built or the life of existing capacity to be extended, I am noticing a glaring absence of demand side options to try to combat the problem by bringing down capacity requirements. Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are all the rage in the utility world. Articles, conference sessions, webinars galore on VPPs. But the absence of them being considered as an option to provide tangible reductions in capacity costs, and ultimately customer bills does raise a bit of a red flag for me about the overall reliability and predictability of virtual power plants. I really like the U.S. Department of Energy definition of a VPP. "Virtual Power Plants are aggregations of clean distributed energy resources that act like a power plant...large enough to be utility scale, and connected, controllable and reliable enough to be utility grade". While I think VPPs meet most of these requirements, the one that probably comes into question the most is if it is reliable enough to be utility grade. With a VPP, there is always concern that the resources may not be available when you need them, especially for customer-owned resources. For example, if you have 100 MWs enrolled, how much is actually available at the time you need it? Is it 75, 50, 25, or some other number? Maybe then you need to enroll 200 MW if you want to rely on 100 MW. In fairness to VPPs, a supply side resource such as a new or existing generator does not always operate reliably either or consistently at its nameplate capacity. Nothing is ever 100% guaranteed when it comes to meeting energy needs. I certainly do not claim to know what the future will hold for VPPs and there are some jurisdictions such as Colorado who are buying in, but it will be interesting to see how these evolve into utility integrated resource plans over the coming years and if they are actually relied upon to reduce supply side investments.

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As #YourTrustedEnergyPatner keeping you informed is essential. It is also vital that we keep your electricity affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible. Learn more about the balancing act that utilities face in this recent Substack by GM, Rick Dunn here: https://ow.ly/nR5N50T48sz #CommunityPowered #AffordableEnergy #ReliableEnergy #EnvironmentallyResponsibleEnergy

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The buildout of our nation’s electric transmission is key to reliability, economic growth, and the clean energy transition, but there are significant obstacles slowing down the process. The recently introduced Energy Permitting Reform Act is a positive step forward in promoting forward-looking, interregional grid planning – and policymakers must build on this momentum to ensure that transmission planning provisions can work together to meet the country’s evolving energy needs. 💡 Read more: https://ow.ly/PCv350SOtm0

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PJM has cleared 204 #generation projects to the second phase of its new #interconnection process, designed to study 72,000 MW of mostly renewable or hybrid resources by the third quarter of 2025. The projects are among approximately 230,000 MW that PJM expects to study for potential #grid connection over the next three years under new, reformed rules approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2022. The reforms provide an efficient and timely process for handling New Service Requests. The 204 projects moving forward as part of Transition Cycle 1 represent 30,513 MW of mostly #renewable or hybrid generation located across 12 states. An additional 283 projects are moving through an Expedited “Fast Lane” Process. Together, Transition Cycle 1 and the Fast Lane represent approximately 56,000 MW of projects that will be through the PJM interconnection process by late 2025. While the new process is proceeding, PJM has 38,000 MW of projects that have already cleared PJM’s process but have not been built. Read more at PJM Inside Lines. https://lnkd.in/eNh47-d7

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New U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory new grid modernization study highlights the need to potentially doubling the US grid by 2050. #gridmodernization https://lnkd.in/gYqauf3K

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At NARUC's annual meeting in Anaheim, CA this week where there is a concerted focus on key #grid issues that boil down to: reliability and costs in the face of significant load growth and a lack of resource supply additions, and the need for transmission solutions to address these. Or reduced even further: Costs, Reliability, and Growth (and how transmission solves for these). Amy Jaffe has a a related piece in the The Wall Street Journal that highlights some solutions. Among them, reconductoring #transmission enabling energy pathways with carbon composite core #advancedconductors like CTC Global's ACCC that doubles line capacity in existing rights of way, at the existing voltage and on existing structures, and reduces losses by 30% or more. "Better, stronger transmission lines. Some utilities are beefing up their physical transmission lines, retrofitting them with higher-performance materials. Advanced conductors like carbon fiber replace steel with lighter, stronger materials and use denser annealed aluminum instead of aluminum strands. The lines don't change temperature as easily or weaken during extreme conditions, so they are less likely to heat up or sag in ways that create dangerous situations during extreme weather." https://lnkd.in/eDZTGYVz The conversation on reliability also has featured rethinking planning standards and resource adequacy, with recommendations to move away from a 1 in 10 loss of load expectation standard that does not account for the length of an outage or the size of the event. James Okullo presented an overview of a new ESIG (Energy Systems Integration Group) study on multi-factor loss of load planning that was followed by an insightful discussion with James, Fritz Hirst of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Brooke Trammell of Xcel Energy, and Noel Black of Southern Company. This discussion further highlighted the current grid challenges, with Fritz noting the new transmission standards for extreme heat and cold, and endorsement of the ESIG work, while Noel highlighted the load growth in Southern's footprint with 6GWs of additional demand in Georgia last year alone; one in a sea of similar data points on load growth being shared in the meetings and halls of NARUC. How we get transmission capacity online to move new energy to load in the immediate future vs. 10+ years for new build transmission projects is the issue of the moment. The ESIG study work can be found here: https://lnkd.in/etV8jTbW #energy

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Aspen Power's Kristy Zaragoza will be on GridTECH Connect Forum's upcoming panel: "Community solar: A California dream?" Expect an interesting discussion on the heels of the recent California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision to adopt a flawed community solar program. If you have questions or would like to connect in advance let us know! By siding with utilities, the CPUC has made a choice that not only undermines the interests of ratepayers but also poses a significant setback to California's ambitious climate goals. Distributed energy generation supports the equitable and sustainable growth of community solar initiatives, and our progress toward a cleaner and more resilient energy future. Learn more about the panel here: https://lnkd.in/eAw87QMP #GridTECH #Sustainability #Solar

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The PJM Capacity Auction is a critical event in the energy market where electricity suppliers secure the necessary resources to ensure there will be enough power during peak demand times. The recent auction saw a significant increase in capacity prices, potentially impacting your electricity costs. Check out our article to find out more! #PJM #energy #capacityauction

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Instead of forcing large customers to pick from solar projects that lost in the competitive bidding process, we want to allow customers to arrange their own solar projects, then enlist Duke as the go-between — essentially how the green tariff operates now. John Burns our General Counsel: “Our proposal is to keep doing that up to 250 MW a year and make those megawatts supplemental to the targets in the Carbon Plan and the interconnection constraint. That gives the customer an argument as to why they are accelerating or adding megawatts that the utility otherwise would not have added in that year.” https://lnkd.in/eJHGk_bt

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