title
Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging the PJM Interconnection to act with all possible speed to comply with the requirements and recommendations referenced herein in order to improve their project interconnection process for new energy generation projects.
body
Whereas, the PJM Interconnection has existed in one form or another since 1927, and currently operates a wholesale electricity market and manages the reliability of its transmission grid; and
Whereas, in managing its grid, PJM centrally dispatches generation and coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or part of 13 states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia; and PJM’s markets include energy (day-ahead and real-time), capacity and ancillary services; and
Whereas, although PJM has made essential reforms to its interconnection process, it still has one of the longest timelines in the country for projects wanting to connect to its grid; and
Whereas, energy projects that began operating in 2025 had spent an average of 8 years sitting in the PJM queue awaiting approval to move ahead; and
Whereas, it is the judgment of Council that, as energy demand skyrockets due to the proliferation of data centers and the electrification of industries, increasing the available supply of electricity is needed more than ever; and
Whereas, the increase in energy prices resulting from this failure to add new supply has been hitting every-day residents and businesses in the PJM service territory particularly hard. This past December, Pennsylvanians saw an increase in electricity bills ranging from 3.7% for PPL customers to 10.6% for Duquesne Light customers. These increase comes on top of previous rate hikes in June 2025, and other electricity bill increases predicted to happen in the near future due to the results of PJM’s summer 2025 capacity auction; and
Whereas, in 2023, the Federal Energy Commission’s (FERC) required regional grid operators such as PJM to shorten their interconnection timelines to a recommended 150-day study turnaround; and
Whereas, even with FERC’s 2023 order in place, PJM’s process still takes 540 days; and
Whereas, over the past several years, a large percentage of the projects waiting for approval have been clean energy projects such as wind, solar, and battery storage, which are not only les detrimental to the environment, but diversification of generation methods also enhances the electrical grid’s reliability and resilience; and
Whereas, this state of affairs prompted the White House and a coalition of governors within the PJM service region released a set of principles that includes urging PJM to implement broad reforms to its interconnection process in 2026 and reduce the waiting timeline down to the 150 days ordered by FERC in 2023; and
Whereas, it is the judgment of Council that this is an important acknowledgment that PJM’s backlog of stalled energy generation projects is a central driver of rising costs and could help move long-delayed energy resources closer to construction and begin easing supply constraints; and
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED that PJM should act with all possible speed to comply with the requirements and recommendations referenced herein by speeding up their project interconnection process.