(The Center Square) – Rising electricity demand and affordability concerns are putting pressure on policymakers to add new generation to an aging, overburdened grid – a challenge compounded by delays in transmission upgrades.
Pennsylvania is one of several key states in the PJM region facing such delays. Experts point to two main solutions: build the needed upgrades or find ways around them.
A recent analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, says already high electricity prices could climb further unless PJM and states address these hidden log jams. Across the 13-state region, NRDC says, network upgrades are “currently outright preventing 26 GW of new power plants from interconnecting to the grid and delaying 11.7 GW more.”
That is enough power to supply between 8 million and 20 million homes.
NRDC reviewed PJM’s historical interconnection queues to identify common network upgrades associated with withdrawn power plant projects. Virginia had the most, with 15, followed by Illinois with 11. Pennsylvania ranked third with 10. The group says those figures point to parts of the grid that are overburdened and blocking new energy supply.
The report says that states can help reduce delays by pressing utilities to explain the causes, holding transmission owners to realistic timelines, and finding ways to fund needed upgrades.
States can also work with PJM on faster, lower-cost alternatives, including advanced transmission technologies that increase line efficiency, surplus interconnection service, and the use of existing infrastructure at retiring plant sites to avoid some upgrades altogether.
Claire Lang-Ree, advocate for the sustainable FERC project at NRDC, told The Center Square that developers often spend years waiting in the queue only to drop out when faced with high costs and long timelines for required network upgrades.
“It’s definitely gotten a lot worse in recent years,” said Lang-Ree. Previously, much of the focus was on speeding up the process for new resources – which can take more than two years. Now, she said, it is becoming clear that delays beyond the study phase are also piling up – many outside the control of PJM, states, or developers.
She said that in restructured states like Pennsylvania, developers are required to pay for network upgrades, while separate transmission companies build them on their own timelines and with limited regulatory scrutiny, until recently.
Power plant developers must pay to connect new generation and fund any resulting network upgrades it triggers. By contrast, new large load customers like data centers, which drive similar upgrades, often are not required to cover those costs, Lang-Ree said, calling it a “major gap in how we allocate costs today.” She added that some newer agreements with data center companies acknowledge they should bear those expenses.
She noted one caveat: network upgrades are only one, more targeted, type of transmission upgrade. And with smaller projects, it is easier to identify the user driving the need. But the benefits and contributing factors spread more broadly in larger projects, making it harder to isolate a single cause.
NRDC Pennsylvania Policy Director Robert Routh told The Center Square the issue is unfolding across multiple levels of government and is having a real impact on ratepayers.
Routh said Pennsylvania is the nation’s largest electricity exporter, sending 25% to 30% of its generation to neighboring states. He noted Governor Shapiro’s Lightning Plan and several bills in the General Assembly that are aimed at easing financing and siting for clean, reliable energy and battery storage.
House Bill 1834 would direct the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to establish a framework for large-load customers that ensures costs are allocated fairly, and House Bill 2223 would require utilities proposing new transmission projects to show they considered advanced transmission technologies.
Routh pointed to the proposed restart of Three Mile Island as a real-time example. The Shapiro administration, labor groups, and PJM have all backed the project, and it was moved up in the queue through PJM’s Reliability Resource Initiative.
He said that although initially expected to begin supplying power to Microsoft data centers and the grid by late 2027, a recent study found that required network upgrades could push that timeline to 2030 or 2031.
Pennsylvania’s current power mix is about 59% gas, 30% nuclear, 7% coal, and roughly 4% renewables. Because the resources waiting in the PJM queue are largely clean energy and storage, bringing them online quickly – while addressing transmission upgrade needs – could create a more balanced mix and reduce overreliance on gas, including its winter reliability concerns, said Routh.
Lang-Ree said Pennsylvania lags behind regions such as Texas and California in getting electricity from clean energy which deploy large amounts of battery storage. But, she said, it has done a great job in proactively adding new power to avoid reliability shortfalls, and it could build on that by steering development to less constrained parts of the grid.
She added that a reliable future resource mix will likely include renewable energy, battery storage, and some existing baseload resources used only in emergencies.
NRDC’s report says PJM must recognize that network upgrade delays and project withdrawals are not going away and that deeper changes will be needed to maintain reliability, meet skyrocketing demand, and control consumer costs.
“Residents, businesses, and families in PJM cannot afford to ignore these significant blockers of new, affordable clean energy that will lower prices and keep the lights on. Instead, states and PJM must work together to clear the logjam—for good.”
