Blog
Convening Mid-Atlantic Legislators Around Transmission and Energy Policy: PJM Interconnection Tour
December 18, 2024
On December 16, legislators from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio convened in Audubon, Pennsylvania, to hear about the state of the grid and discuss strategies to increase affordability and sustainability in the region.
The convening brought together a group of 11 legislators and 7 legislative staffers. The group first gathered at PJM’s facilities in Audubon, Pennsylvania, to meet with high-level PJM officials including Jason Stanek, PJM’s Executive Director of Governmental Services and Asim Haque, Sr. PJM’s Vice President of Governmental and Member Service.
PJM Headquarters
The event began with a presentation from PJM staff on one of the most pressing topics facing ratepayers today: skyrocketing demand growth. Legislators asked questions about PJM’s demand projections, focusing on how inaccuracies could lead to unnecessarily high rates, and digging into PJM’s processes to prevent this.
The group also inquired about the responsibilities of AI data centers, which are largely driving current demand growth, to mitigate their impacts to the grid.
Legislators also heard from PJM about proposed changes to the capacity market and took a similar tack in this discussion, inquiring on protections for their constituents who are facing rising energy costs and expressing concerns for market rules that hamper renewables and battery storage.
PJM Control Room
Legislators and staff were then brought to PJM’s Control Room. The group got to see how PJM operators manage the daily functions of the grid, balancing supply and demand, communicating with generators, monitoring transmission lines, and overall ensuring the lights stay on.
Legislators asked questions about PJM’s interconnections with other regions, their security and resilience efforts, how PJM manages various energy resources, PJM’s role in resolving congestion and other transmission issues, and the role of states in these efforts.
Strategy Session
The group departed PJM for a brief lunch and then regrouped for discussion and reflections, discussing outstanding questions, takeaways, and considerations for legislative action. Legislators spoke about the need for greater regional collaboration and strategized on state policy initiatives around RTO governance and reform, grid enhancing technologies, managing data center demand, and reducing constituent electric bills.
The group then dug deeper into these topics with presentations on specific issues and policy solutions other states have advanced. First, Jon Gordon (Advanced Energy United) and Anjali Patel (David Gardiner and Associates) presented on the structure of PJM’s capacity market, upcoming and proposed changes, and what states can do to reign in rising prices.
Katie Siegner (RMI) then shared background on grid enhancing technologies (GETs) and their role in improving grid infrastructure while keeping prices low. Anjali Patel (David Gardiner and Associates) discussed the need for siting and permitting reform to ensure new generation, especially renewable energy, can be deployed expeditiously, affordably, and with community engagement.
The event wrapped up with Nora Esram (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) providing a detailed breakdown on data center operations, the challenges these facilities are creating, their potential for increased efficiency, and state policy options.
Looking Forward
Attendees of the event walked away with more knowledge on current issues at PJM impacting their constituents and are more well-equipped to implement utility and grid policy in the 2025 legislative session. As data center proliferation and exponential demand growth continues to drive up electricity rates across the country – and jeopardize clean energy goals – state leaders are increasingly important in efforts to protect consumers, ensure reliability and resilience, and increase sustainability.
Resources
- Transmission Briefing Book | NCEL
- Utility Briefing Book | NCEL