Consumers for a Better Grid

Consumers for a Better Grid was one of six ratepayer advocates who filed a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking changes to the PJM Interconnection’s capacity market design this?Monday. “PJM acts as if load increases, supply decreases, and slow entry of new resources are facts of nature when, in fact, PJM has or should have tools to manage all three without sending prices to the roof,” the ratepayer advocates from the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio said in the complaint. Read more in?Utility Dive: https://lnkd.in/gPYD7V-F? #ConsumerAdvocacy #EnergyReform #PJMInterconnection?

Citizens Utility Board (Illinois) Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz recently spoke on a panel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to discuss co-located load and remind policymakers/regulators about the importance of strong, pro-consumer energy policy: "The decisions we make impact vulnerable ratepayers who are already suffering."

CUB's Clara Summers was happy to speak up for consumer interests on this panel!

Yesterday in E&E News: “All signs indicate that if the December auction were to go forward as scheduled, ratepayers would pay astronomic prices for no benefit,” Clara Summers, who manages the Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign for the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois, said in an email. “We want to get back on schedule as soon as possible, but the market rules need to make sense first. PJM needs to fast-track reforms so price signals can reconnect with reality.” https://lnkd.in/exuRyZ9P

Clara Summers, our Campaign Manager, has been in Washington, DC, this week to meet with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Commissioners as part of the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States. Just another day working for clean affordable energy!

State policymakers play a critical role in advancing interconnected, high-capacity transmission by: 1. Passing supportive policies 2. Collaborating with other states, transmission owners and developers, energy customers, regional planners, and the federal government 3. Actively participating in regional and interregional planning 4. Increasing awareness around the importance and benefits of transmission 5. Ensuring regulatory processes implement policies that support transmission Learn more about how states can be key players in modernizing our grid in a new report from Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG): https://lnkd.in/eskTiN6a

Consumers for a Better Grid is a CUB project to advocate for a clean, reliable, affordable power grid! We've been busy this summer at PJM, the nation's largest grid operator. Read what we've been up to:?https://buff.ly/4djFSC7 And learn more at?ForABetterGrid.org!?

Our hard work paid off this past week, with a PJM committee vote to launch a stakeholder discussion on cost-effective and cleaner alternatives to RMR agreements. What are those? In short, RMR agreements keep polluting, expensive generators online well past their planned deactivation dates. But there are alternatives--energy storage, grid-enhancing technology--that cost less, protect reliability and fight climate change. As Citizens Utility Board (Illinois)'s Clara Summers says: “No one likes RMRs–they are expensive, polluting, and they distort the markets. We are glad that stakeholders have come together and said we want an alternative. This is an exciting example of consumer advocates helping to set the agenda.” https://lnkd.in/gw_vpUJz

“PJM is dragging its feet on the clean energy transition and doing everything it can, instead, to create exceptions for itself,” said Clara Summers, the Consumers for a Better Grid campaign manager at the Citizens Utility Board. https://lnkd.in/eMiAP-yy

Last week was a big one! We joined fellow consumer advocates in a complaint to FERC asking that energy efficiency participate properly in PJM's market, so consumers can actually save money. More here: https://lnkd.in/g9ZtnSab We also joined a coalition of organizations calling out PJM's failure to comply with basic interconnection requirements. More here: https://lnkd.in/eud7ucAn