Decision-Making in PJM’s Interconnection Process
An Agent-Based Modeling Approach to ERIS Adoption
A. Weeks (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)
I. Bouwmans – Mentor (TU Delft - Energy and Industry)
Aad Correljé – Mentor (TU Delft - Economics of Technology and Innovation)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
PJM Interconnection, the largest regional transmission organization in the United States, is facing mounting pressure to accelerate the interconnection of new energy generation resources to meet load while maintaining system reliability and minimizing rate payer impacts. The interconnection process- the procedure through which new generation projects get connected to the existing transmission grid is a key bottleneck in the clean energy transition. Over the past decade the queue of projects waiting to get interconnected in PJM has grown to greater than the total installed capacity in PJM. Each year the average time in queue has increased, as have the costs assigned to projects for network upgrades required to connect them to the grid. Meanwhile, while the MW of new generation resources coming online has decreased each year, load continues to increase and the grid is becoming capacity constrained, one symptom of which is the capacity market clearing with record small margins the last two years. In the face of large and increasing queue sizes and wait times, interconnection reforms are receiving increased attention from policy makers, advocates, and academics. One such reform is wider adoption of Energy Resource Interconnection Service (ERIS) agreements....