Utility Dive•about 2 months ago
Virginia, Indiana lawmakers pass surplus interconnection bills
Key Takeaway
New legislation in Virginia and Indiana offers a faster and cheaper pathway for generation and storage projects to connect to the grid by leveraging existing surplus interconnection, highlighting a critical area for developers and a gap in PJM's current approach.
AI Summary
- •Virginia and Indiana have passed legislation to enable the use of existing surplus interconnection capacity.
- •This policy aims to bring new generation (including storage) online faster and more cost-effectively by utilizing infrastructure from sites like rarely-used peaker plants.
- •The article notes that PJM is currently lagging behind other grid operators in implementing similar mechanisms, indicating a potential area for future regulatory focus or competitive disadvantage.
- •For developers and large power consumers, this creates a new, potentially streamlined pathway for grid connection, bypassing the traditional, often lengthy and expensive, new interconnection queue process.
Topics
interconnectpjmpolicyqueuesimple-cyclestoragetransmission
Article Content
Using existing surplus interconnection, such as at rarely-used peaker plants, can get generation and storage resources online faster and more cheaply than seeking new interconnection rights. PJM lags behind other grid operators in pursuing this.