PJM Restarts Power Grid Queue With 800+ New Energy Projects for First Time in 4 Years
Ohio’s grid manager PJM restarts power project reviews after 4-year pause, with 800+ new energy proposals including the first fusion plant application.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — The organization that manages Ohio’s wholesale electricity supply announced it has resumed reviewing applications for new power projects after a four-year pause, with more than 800 proposals now in the pipeline ranging from natural gas plants to renewable energy sources.
PJM Interconnection, which oversees the electrical grid for Ohio and 12 other states, halted its review process in 2022 as applications overwhelmed the system. The Montgomery County-based organization said Wednesday it will move forward with a redesigned approach aimed at improving project review speed and certainty.
The announcement comes as rising electricity demand, largely driven by data center development, collides with limited new power supply across the country. Elected leaders nationwide are grappling with what industry officials call “the affordability problem” as electricity bills climb.
Diverse Energy Portfolio in Queue
The proposed projects span multiple energy sources, including natural gas-fired thermal power plants, wind farms, solar installations and battery storage facilities. For the first time, a company planning to build a fusion power plant in Virginia has applied to connect to PJM’s grid.
“We’ve seen carnage with projects that we put on hold for so long that they’re very hard to get started again,” said Abe Silverman, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute.
The lengthy pause has raised concerns among some market watchers about reduced sustainable energy sources in the current mix of proposals.
Industry Response Mixed on Reforms
Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, praised the market response to PJM’s restart. “That bodes well for the future of the market, which ultimately is good for consumers,” Snitchler said.
The organization implemented what it describes as “a redesigned approach focused on improving the certainty, speed and discipline of project review” following the 2022 suspension. The reforms appear to have restored investor confidence, according to industry representatives who point to the high volume of new applications.
PJM’s grid serves approximately 65 million people across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and portions of several other states. The organization coordinates wholesale electricity markets and ensures grid reliability across its territory.
The restart of the interconnection queue represents a significant development for Ohio’s energy future as the state seeks to balance growing electricity demand with diverse power generation sources. Data centers, which require substantial electrical capacity, continue driving much of the increased demand across PJM’s service area.
