FERC

As large energy load users, including data centers, seek faster connection to the power grid of PJM Interconnection, co-locating with power plants or committing to flexible operations are promising compromises. Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a new order that has the potential to create much-welcome regulatory certainty for large load customers as well as some safeguards to ensure that co-location won’t negatively impact the electric rates and system reliability of all other customers.

Heatmap News reports on PJM Interconnection’s escalating debate over how to manage demand. United’s Jon Gordon provides context throughout the piece on PJM’s pending rule changes, the competing stakeholder proposals, and the challenge of balancing reliability, consumer protection, and rapid data center growth.

Utility Dive reports that PJM stakeholders failed to reach consensus on a set of proposals to govern how large loads connect to the grid. In a bulletin on the meeting, United’s Jon Gordon said the vote highlights the difficulty of balancing resource adequacy, ratepayer costs, and rapid data center growth in a region already facing […]

Advanced Energy United congratulated Laura Swett and David LaCerte on their Senate confirmation to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports that the Trump administration has ordered the Eddystone Generating Station in Pennslvania to remain operational past the facility’s retirement date. Moreover, FERC approved a plan that allows PJM Interconnection to recover the costs of keeping the plant running. United’s Jon Gordon raised concerns about future energy capacity in the PJM region, warning that the system-wide cost sharing plan would raise electricity costs for consumers.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, national business group Advanced Energy United congratulated David Rosner on his elevation to Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Caitlin Marquis, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United, released the following statement:

Advanced Energy United issued a statement congratulating David LaCerte on his nomination as commissioner to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

POLITICO reports that The Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications will discuss the West-Wide Governance Pathway Initiative, a proposal to unify the West’s electricity markets, which critics say makes California vulnerable to Trump’s FERC. United’s Edson Perez defends the proposal, saying that it will reduce electricity prices by increasing efficiency while preserving California’s authority over its clean energy and transmission policies.

National business association Advanced Energy United congratulates Mark Christie on his appointment to Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Generator interconnection, the way that new large-scale energy resources plug in to the power grid is outdated and cumbersome, and a new report shows that fixing these so-called ‘interconnection’ processes could result in over $100 billion in economic benefits, and over one million years worth of work for Americans.

Inside Climate News reports that PJM Interconnection is under pressure, following PJM’s July capacity auction when prices jumped over 800 percent. Interviewed as part of the article, United’s Jon Gordon emphasized PJM’s backlogged interconnection queue of 3,000 projects capable of replacing the entire grid’s generation, underscoring the need for immediate action.

Amid growing demand for electricity, a new report from Grid Strategies LLC and The Brattle Group and recommends additional reforms to “generator interconnection,” the process by which new, large-scale energy resources are connected to transmission grids. The report, Unlocking America’s Energy: How to Efficiently Connect New Generation to the Grid, calls for new approaches to interconnection that can move new generation projects more quickly to completion while providing up-front cost certainty.