By Leland McMillan, NERC Supervisor
The Department of Energy has raised concerns with resource adequacy in PJM and is terming it as a possible multi-year Energy Emergency. The recent DOE order states “The emergency conditions resulting from increasing demand and accelerated retirements of generation facilities supporting the issuance of [an emergency order issued in May] will continue in the near term and are also likely to continue in subsequent years”.
An article from “Utility Dive” goes on to describe actions taken to keep generation online as the DOE is empowered by the Federal Power Act:
Given the possibility of hot weather in the next several months, DOE ordered Constellation Energy to continue operating two 380-MW gas- and oil-fired units at its Eddystone power plant near Philadelphia until Nov. 26. Constellation planned to retire the units on May 31, 2025, but kept them online in response to an initial emergency order from DOE.
DOE issued a similar second emergency order on Aug. 20 for Consumers Energy’s majority-owned, 1,420-MW J.H. Campbell power plant in West Olive, Michigan.
Critics disagree with the actions taken by DOE and the Utility Dive article also provides the other side of the story:
However, during the three-day hot spell in June, PJM exported a net of 273,062 MWh, according to a group of state consumer advocates who are challenging DOE’s initial Eddystone order. “Exporting megawatt-hours to others is inconsistent with the order’s finding that PJM is in the throes of a resource adequacy ‘emergency,’” they said in a June 27 appeal to DOE.
DOE failed to show that PJM faces an immediate energy emergency, according to the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate, New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, the Illinois attorney general and the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois.
“On its face a ‘growing … concern’ is not an emergency,” the consumer advocates said. “While we think PJM needs to do more to address both resource adequacy and related affordability concerns, that does not include keeping an aging power plant online at ratepayer subsidy that even its owner would prefer to retire.”
It will be interesting to see how both near and long-term resource adequacy is managed in PJM as well as all areas of the country given our changing resource mix.
