Just days ago, governors of a number of states in the PJM Interconnection service area shot salvos over the grid operator’s bow, accusing the Regional Transmission Organization for 65 million people of being at the root of a historic runup in electricity supply prices.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro used his opening remarks to say that his state was prepared to leave PJM if reforms were not forthcoming quickly. Earlier in the year, New Jersey’s Phil Murphy called for an investigation, saying PJM may have been part of market manipulation leading to soaring prices.
Now, PJM President and CEO Manu Asthana responded by shifting much of the blame for supply issues back to the states. Asthana said that the states must look to themselves for the lagging supply. He called for state reform efforts to resolve siting and permitting delays, essentially saying state regulations and policies are the problem, not a slowness at PJM to allow for the interconnection of available power sources to the regional grid.
Asthana was blunt. “We can do whatever we want in the markets, but if our [power] plants run into a hostile siting and permitting regime, they will not get built,” he said. Asthana added that finger-pointing on issues of supply and reliability do more harm than good.
Politicians faced with angry voters and imminent elections have been busy shifting blame for the price crisis away from state policies. In New Jersey the election of a new governor in November to replace the term-limited Murphy has led to state Democrats blaming PJM and state Republicans blaming state Democrats.
Asthana says he is pleased with PJM’s progress on reform of the interconnection process, which began in 2020. PJM says that 2.1 new gigawatts have come online this year, with 2 gigawatts coming from solar.
Adding to the complexity of the moment is a geopolitical struggle for dominance in artificial intelligence, which is likely to be won by the country that best deals with one of the industry’s major constraints: electricity. Winning that battle without creating a massive backlash from voters is the trick.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
