Haque to Congress: PJM Makes Strides but Challenges Remain To Balance Electricity Supply/Demand

Asim Haque, PJM Sr. Vice President – Governmental and Member Services, testified Wednesday at “Scaling for Growth: Meeting the Demand for Reliable, Affordable Electricity” – an Energy Subcommittee hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce.

National Issues, PJM Perspective

Haque thanked lawmakers for their renewed focus on the challenges confronting the industry – the accelerating growth of electricity demand in the face of dwindling generation supply, a trend PJM has highlighted for the last three years to urge industry collaboration and action.

These concerns for the reliability of the bulk electric system are shared by grid operators in two-thirds of the U.S., as identified by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which regulates grid reliability and security in the U.S., Haque noted in his submitted testimony (PDF).

He detailed PJM’s long experience of dispatching power from a diverse fleet of generation resources to maintain reliability, while operating competitive markets that ensure the most cost-effective and efficient dispatch of generation resources to meet demand. PJM also plans the expansion of the electric transmission system to meet future customer needs.

On Jan. 22, Haque said, PJM hit a new, all-time record for winter peak demand during an arctic cold spell. In cooperation with generation and transmission owners, PJM met that reliability challenge, an undertaking Haque said can no longer be taken for granted.

Demand Grows as Replacements Lag

Wednesday’s hearing underlined the trend of new power generation not keeping pace with future needs, driven by growth in data centers, electrification and other factors, Haque said. As much as 40 GW of power generation units are forecasted to retire by 2030, or about 21% of PJM’s current 192 GW mix. By 2039, PJM expects its summer peak energy usage to climb 70,000 MW to about 220,000 MW, he noted.

Fleet in Transition

At the same time, PJM’s fleet is shifting toward a composition of mostly intermittent renewable generation. These resources, he added, do not replace thermal, dispatchable resources one-to-one and also lack essential attributes that help preserve reliability, such as quick, controlled ramp up or down.

New generation is also not getting built at the pace required to meet the growing supply/demand imbalance, Haque stated. While PJM has reformed its planning processes and continues to process projects faster than ever, more than 50 GW of new resources have successfully come through PJM’s process but are not moving to operation due to unrelated obstacles, including local opposition, supply chain or financing. The less than 4,800 MW of new, mostly solar generation that was added to the system in 2024 is not enough to keep up with the retirements and load growth.

“PJM is doing everything it can within its given authority to expedite additional supply,” Haque said in his testimony. He highlighted successful actions PJM has taken since December that are designed to maximize the available supply of reliable generation, enhancing the reliability and affordability of the system.

“PJM is also very conscientious of maintaining cost-effectiveness for consumers while simultaneously attempting to balance the varied policy priorities of our policymakers,” he said in the testimony.

There is reason for optimism, Haque told Committee members during the hearing. The fact that demand is growing means the economy is growing. PJM markets have proven over time that they can attract investment in new generation resources. And those competitive markets have also proven their ability to incentivize innovative, efficient solutions that also control costs.

Haque asked lawmakers and regulators to consider impacts to reliability and affordability when developing energy policy, and to do everything in their power to help speed the building of new power generation and transmission.

“The fact that we’re here and talking about supply and demand is progress,” he said Wednesday. “This is a moment; PJM, with the assistance of our stakeholders and all of you, will meet that moment.”