PJM Interconnection

PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM) is a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) which operates the electric transmission system serving all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is currently the world's largest competitive wholesale electricity market. [cite web|last= |title=PJM 2007 Annual Financial Report|work= |publisher= |date= |url=http://www.pjm.com/about/downloads/2007-financial-report.pdf|format=pdf|doi= |accessdate =2007-08-17]

History

In 1927 the Public Service Electric and Gas Company, Philadelphia Electric Company, and Pennsylvania Power & Light Company formed a power pool called the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Interconnection.cite web|last= |first= |title=PJM's Heritage|work= |publisher= |date= |url=http://www.pjm.com/about/pjm-heritage.html|format= |doi= |accessdate =2008-08-17] The purpose of the power pool was to dispatch electric generating plants on a lowest cost basis, thereby reducing the electric costs for all members of the pool. After Baltimore Gas and Electric Company and General Public Utilities join in 1956, the pool is renamed the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, or PJM.Cite web|last= |first=|title=PJM Timeline|date=2007-12-03|url=http://www.pjm.com/about/downloads/media-kit-timeline.pdf|accessdate=2008-08-17 ]

FERC Order 880, 888 and 889

Following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 880 that began the deregulation of the traditional utility companies, FERC began to set up the concepts of an Independent System Operator and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO), which allowed third party entities to manage functions of the electric grid that were traditionally responsibilities of vertically integrated utility companies.

PJM was designated an RTO by the FERC in 2001. FERC regulates PJM and approves its open access transmission tariff for the wholesale electricity market.

Deregulation and Expansion, 2002

In April 2002, Allegheny Power (AP) was the first external control area to join the PJM RTO as a market participant; "PJM Classic" and AP operated as a single control area, filling the roles of balancing authority, interchange authority, market operator and transmission operator.

Involvement in the Northeast Blackout of 2003

During the Northeast Blackout of 2003, the transmission systems within the PJM operations area largely remained operational and were not affected by the power failure.

When the grid separated, a small portion of the Public Service Electric & Gas of New Jersey zone electrically separated from the Eastern Interconnection due to over-frequency relay operations.

Deregulation and Expansion, 2004-Present

In May 2004, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) joined PJM as a separate balancing authority operating under the RTO. PJM was able to manage the two territories in a single market by a mechanism known as "the pathway", a set of firm contracts that transferred energy from ComEd through third party control areas to the eastern PJM markets and beyond. In October 2004, American Electric Power (AEP) and Dayton Power & Light (DPL) joined PJM, which allowed PJM to collapse back into a single control area.

In January 2005, Duquesne Lighting Co. (DLCO) joined PJM, leaving First Energy as the last utility company in Pennsylvania not in the PJM RTO. In May 2005, Dominion Virginia Power joined PJM, extending the southern border to North Carolina. At this time, PJM now borders 22 balancing authorities representing 11 market interfaces.

Transmission system planning and upgrades

PJM uses a fifteen year planning horizon for planning transmission system upgrades. Under PJM's Regional Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP) process, PJM considers forecasts of load growth and additions of demand response, interconnection requests for new and planned retirements of existing generating plants, and possible solutions to mitigate congestion on the transmission system. [cite web|first= |last= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=PJM 2007 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan|version=|pages= |publisher=PJM|date=2008-02-27|url=http://www.pjm.com/planning/reg-trans-exp-plan.html|format= |accessdate=2008-08-17] If the upgrade involves the construction of a new transmission line, local siting decisions involving the route of the new line are determined by the owner of the line and the state government.

References

External links

* [http://www.pjm.com PJM website]
* [http://www.pjm.com/about/territory-served.html Map of PJM operations area]