Our Letter to the PJM Board: No fast-tracks for fossil fuels

PJM Interconnection—the regional grid operator for 14 states in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic—is currently developing its plan for how to manage increased energy demand from data centers.

When a developer wants to build a power plant—like a wind or solar farm— in the PJM region, they have to get approval from PJM. But PJM’s approval process is among the slowest in the country, and has prevented huge amounts of clean energy from being connected to the grid in recent years. Instead of working to fix this, PJM is proposing a fast-track, which in practice would let large fossil fuel generators like gas plants skip the line, causing even further delay to the regular approval process.

PJM putting its thumb on the scale for large fossil generators is unacceptable. The 67 million Americans living in the PJM region deserve a grid that is reliable and functional, and that doesn’t put its thumb on the scale for dirty power.  

Next week, PJM’s Board of Managers will make their final decision on PJM’s proposal. Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, and our state organizations in the PJM region sent a joint letter to the board, urging them not to include an unnecessary fast-track for fossil fuels.