PJM Reaches Next Interconnection Milestone; Clears 204 Projects for Next Stage of New Interconnection Process

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 284 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.

New Cluster Process

PJM began transitioning to a new interconnection process in July 2023, moving from a “first-in, first-out” model to a “first-ready, first-served” cluster Cycle structure. Together with other changes, including decision points and readiness deposits, the new process is designed to focus on projects that are prepared to move forward while removing projects that are either speculative or have little chance of being built.

Since the new interconnection rules were implemented in July 2023, a total of 246 projects have either dropped out or have been removed from the queue.

“Everybody wants faster, more efficient interconnection. If we are sorting out a third of the projects that weren’t viable from the start, we’re prioritizing our time, resources and available transmission headroom for projects that are more likely to be built,” said Aftab Khan, Executive Vice President – Operations, Planning & Security.

Decision Point 1

Initially, 310 projects entered Transition Cycle #1, one of two cycles designed to clear the backlog of projects before the new process is fully implemented in early 2026. Of those projects, 96 were withdrawn by their sponsors by Decision Point 1 on June 20, and another 10 were discontinued after failing to meet readiness requirements.

Decision points are important milestones in the new interconnection process. These new process points require developers to demonstrate specific readiness requirements to move forward in the process.

On PJM’s part, the completion of Decision Point 1 represents a significant volume of work due to the level of detail, the intensity of the requirements, and the consistent application of new standards and rules.

Efficient Interconnection Is Critical

The efficiency of the interconnection process has taken on a greater urgency during this energy transition. For the first time in recent history, PJM could be at risk of facing resource adequacy challenges should the trends of high load growth, increasing rates of generator retirements, and slower entry of new resources continue, as detailed in the report, Energy Transition in PJM: Resource Retirements, Replacements & Risks (PDF).

The Phase 1 study results for Transition Cycle #1 projects have been posted to a new webpage. The results include an overall report for this cluster of projects, as well as individual studies for each project.

Similar to PJM’s legacy Service Request Status page, projects can be filtered by fuel type and location, but now, additional details about each project can be expanded into pop-up, mini-dashboard windows. The new page also highlights PJM’s move away from a queue-based study process to its current Cycle-based process.

The legacy Serial-study-based page continues to provide information about projects that were part of PJM’s legacy interconnection queue.

Transition Cycle #2 and Beyond

The cutoff date for Transition Cycle #2 applications is Dec. 17.

PJM continues to provide updates on study progress at the monthly public meetings of the Interconnection Process Subcommittee.

This article also appears at PJM Inside Lines.