PJM Puts Hundreds of Mostly Solar Projects on Hold for 2 Years
PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator operating in 13 states and Washington DC, announced that about 1,200 primarily solar projects will be placed on hold for 2 years as part of a new process it recently developed for adding generation sources to the grid. The new process is basically designed to better accommodate the influx of interconnection requests and reduce the existing backlog.
Why Decisions on the Outstanding Solar Projects have been Placed on Pause
Understandably, the approval delay has irked many renewable energy developers because, in their mind, time is of the essence when it comes to climate change mitigation tactics – especially when considering that the Biden administration wants a carbon-free grid in just 13 short years.
But the burning question is why? The reason, according to PJM officials, is because a fundamental shift in the number and type of energy projects seeking approval has increased the need to study each proposal very carefully to maintain reliability. Specifically, PJM has traditionally vetted fewer but larger fossil fuel projects, but in recent years PJM has been forced to vet many smaller clean energy proposals. Thanks to this new reality, as of the time of this writing, there are a whopping 2,500 proposals in the backlog. Ouch!
The new PJM process is essentially a 2-pronged solution. Projects that are construction-ready are assessed first, with the rationale being that these projects are less speculative and better financed and can hit the ground running as soon as they are approved. Conversely, assessment of the projects that are less construction-ready (i.e., the 1,200 mostly solar projects in the backlog, encompassing about 100,000 MW) will be deferred until the fourth quarter of 2025, with some decisions not expected until the end of 2027.
That said, the PJM plan still needs to be approved by regulatory stakeholders. This month, the PJM plan will be sent to FERC, which will have 60 days to assess and, if necessary, act on the plan. In the meantime, the developers of the 1,200 or so mostly solar projects in the PJM assessment queue will just have to sit tight and hope for the best.
