Grid operator proposes reforms to keep lights on during extreme weather

The reforms are designed “to make sure what we have will keep the lights on,” Jeff Shields, a spokesman for PJM, said in an interview Monday.

“Reliability is our No. 1 job. 365 (days)/24-7 is not negotiable as far as electricity goes,” he added.

The challenge: Fossil-fuel generation sources — primarily gas plants and coal plants — are being retired as federal rules become more stringent, but renewable sources — solar panel collections and wind turbines — are not coming online fast enough to replace those losses.

An example of the problem arose before Christmas last year when plummeting temperatures had PJM asking Midwest residents to conserve electricity.

As severe cold descended on the Dayton area, PJM asked residents to reduce electricity use between 4 a.m. Dec. 24 and 10 a.m. Dec. 25.

The National Weather Service reported a “minimum wind chill” of -38 F at 7:30 a.m. Dec. 23 in the Dayton area last year.

“The generation performance during Elliot was not what it needed to be,” Shields said, referring to what the Weather Channel called “Winter Storm Elliott.”

PJM filed its proposals with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week after more than a year of stakeholder meetings.

Through auctions, PJM pays generation sources to commit to delivering power in the future. Part of that work is ensuring PJM is comfortable with available capacity, Shields said.

“We need to look at the fleet and make sure we are accurate about who’s giving what,” he said.

During last December’s intense cold spell, one issue was the performance of certain gas plants.

Peak load or demand usually comes in the summer, with air conditioning usage. But the weather risk really is shifting to winter when the problem is not just high demand, but higher outage rates for certain generators, Shields said. “These reforms are meant to address some of that.”

Some proposed reforms are designed to set rules for testing of generators before winter, while making clear when and how generators can be penalized for not delivering expected power.

FERC — the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — will have to sign off on these reforms. “We really need approval from them,” the PJM spokesman said.

Why not slow down the retirement of fossil fuel generation sources if renewables aren’t coming on as fast as needed?

“We don’t really make that call,” Shields said. “We can’t tell someone not to shut down.”

“We’re having those discussions at all levels and encouraging them at all levels,” he added.