New Report: How PJM Can Reform Its Interconnection Processes to Expedite Battery Storage and Avoid Looming Electricity Shortfall

WASHINGTON, D.C. — PJM Interconnection (PJM), America’s largest electric grid operator with a service territory that spans 13 states and the District of Columbia, risks a shortfall of electricity within the next six years yet continues to apply processes that discourage the deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS), according to a new Gabel Associates, Inc. report commissioned by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) in partnership with the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The paper outlines how PJM has prevented storage technologies from using a tool to expedite connection to the grid, Surplus Interconnection Service (SIS), that has been endorsed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and successfully utilized by other grid operators.

“Electricity demand in the Mid-Atlantic region is rapidly rising, but the good news is that there is a large amount of clean energy waiting to come online to maintain the grid’s reliability,” said ACORE President and CEO Ray Long. “SIS is an important tool for efficiently accelerating the deployment of new resources, especially battery storage that will provide much-needed capacity for the region.”

ReSISting a Resource Shortfall: Fixing PJM’s Surplus Interconnection Service (SIS) to Enable Battery Storage offers concrete recommendations PJM can immediately take to ensure the timely development of storage in the Mid-Atlantic region, including:

• Eliminate the current prohibition of SIS participation by grid-charging BESS resources
• Harmonize BESS and pumped hydro storage modeling assumptions
• Adopt FERC’s standard allowing SIS if resources do not trigger the need for new network upgrades

“The need to accelerate the deployment of high-capacity value resources like battery storage is acute as the rapid pace of load growth and legacy generation resource retirements challenge resource adequacy in PJM,” said Mike Borgatti, Senior Vice President, Gabel Associates Inc. “Surplus Interconnection Service provides an important opportunity to maximize the potential for our existing transmission grid to accommodate new resources.”

“Timely deployment of new resources is necessary to meet rapidly rising energy demand and prevent impending electricity shortages,” said ACP Vice President of Energy Storage Noah Roberts. “Energy storage has already proven its ability to efficiently provide substantial new capacity in other regions across the country, stabilizing the grid and reducing costs. PJM can use several vetted and FERC-endorsed tools, including SIS, to expedite energy storage deployment and boost reliability and affordability across the region.”

“To avoid a capacity shortfall in the PJM region, we need to use every tool we have to quickly and efficiently add clean energy resources to the grid,” said Melissa Alfano, Senior Director of Energy Markets and Counsel at SEIA. “This report shows that we have an opportunity to fast-track interconnection approvals for additional generation and that PJM has the authority to grant these requests. Solar developers are eager to meet this growing demand for electricity, but PJM continues to ignore the dispatchable clean energy at its fingertips.”

To download a copy of the report, click here.

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Media Contacts:
Phil Sgro
Deputy Director of Media Relations, ACP
psgro@cleanpower.org
771.208.9388

Dylan Helms
Manager, Communications, ACORE
helms@acore.org
202.935.6491

Holly Reed
Senior Vice President, Gabel Associates
holly@gabelassociates.com
732.296.0770

Jen Bristol
Senior Director of Communications, SEIA
jbristol@seia.org
202.556.2886

About ACORE:
For over 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s leading voice on the issues most essential to renewable energy expansion. ACORE unites finance, policy, and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. For more information, please visit www.acore.org.

About Gabel Associates:
Gabel Associates, Inc. (gabelassociates.com) is an energy, environmental, and public utility consulting firm with its principal office in Highland Park, New Jersey, and satellite offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Rockville, Maryland. For over 30 years, the firm has provided quality energy, environmental, and public utility consulting services and strategic insight to hundreds of clients throughout the United States.