Interconnection

Planning a new electric generating facility requires balancing project costs with expected revenues, including how much power the resource is accredited to sell during a capacity auction, i.e., Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC). In our latest blog post, United’s Doug Pietrucha introduces a new white paper, developed by Ascend Analytics, that discusses how the grid operator PJM Interconnection calculates ELCC for advanced energy technologies under different scenarios, highlighting how these resources benefit one another, and how PJM accredits them for market participation.

Planning the construction of an electric generating facility is a balancing act. Developers have to know not only their costs, but their expected revenues to make a new facility economical. An important aspect of understanding facility revenues is how much energy the facility is accredited to sell, i.e. Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC). A new report by Ascend Analytics discusses the ELCC for renewable technologies under several possible scenarios on the PJM system, outlining how these technologies interact with and benefit each other, and how PJM accredits them for market participation. 

Factor This reports that Virginia lawmakers have passed the Facilitating Access to Surplus Transmission (FAST) Act, groundbreaking legislation that establishes the Commonwealth’s first pilot program to unlock surplus interconnection capacity at existing solar facilities. United’s Jim Purekal commended the passage of the bill, urging the Governor to sign the FAST Act so that utilities, developers, and communities can begin putting surplus interconnection to work.

Virginia lawmakers have passed the Facilitating Access to Surplus Transmission (FAST) Act, groundbreaking legislation that establishes the Commonwealth’s first pilot program to unlock surplus interconnection capacity at existing solar facilities.

RTO Insider reports that several groups are calling for changes to ISO-NE’s surplus interconnection service (SIS) rules to use capacity headroom and help some resources avoid lengthy cluster study processes. Alex Lawton emphasized that lowering barriers to surplus interconnection could help bring resources online more quickly and efficiently, helping prevent future resource adequacy issues.

PJM Interconnection has long relied on fossil-based generation to try and meet rising load growth. United’s Jon Gordon explores a new analysis from Synapse Energy Economics, which shows that deploying a mix of advanced energy solutions instead would allow PJM to meet growing electricity demand, increase energy affordability, and bolster grid reliability across the grid operator’s 13-state region.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) published a new 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment, spotlighting the growing resource adequacy risks throughout the U.S. bulk power system.

The proposal today from the White House acknowledges that energy demand is forecast to grow much faster than the grid operator PJM Interconnection is currently able to bring on new generating resources. Advanced Energy United supports market solutions that give the companies in these sectors equal opportunity to compete to provide the power that the PJM region needs.

Virginia legislators have introduced the Facilitating Access to Surplus Transmission (FAST) Act, a bill designed to deliver new gigawatts (GW) to the grid by tapping into underused capacity at existing power plants.

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 […]

The Center Square reports on the election outcomes in New Jersey and Virginia, where Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won their gubernatorial races. United’s Virginia Director Jim Purekal and New Jersey Policy Lead Katie Mettle highlighted the future governors’ focus on lowering energy prices through clean energy as a key component of their victories.