{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Citizens Utility Board","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org","title":"CUB statement on FERC ordering PJM to make interconnection improvements | Citizens Utility Board","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"hq3tcPXYqb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/26\/cub-statement-on-ferc-ordering-pjm-to-make-interconnection-improvements\/\">CUB statement on FERC ordering PJM to make interconnection improvements<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/26\/cub-statement-on-ferc-ordering-pjm-to-make-interconnection-improvements\/embed\/#?secret=hq3tcPXYqb\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;CUB statement on FERC ordering PJM to make interconnection improvements&#8221; &#8212; Citizens Utility Board\" data-secret=\"hq3tcPXYqb\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","description":"The following is a statement from Clara Summers, manager of the Citizens Utility Board&#8217;s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign. (Read CUB&#8217;s full statement here.) We thank the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for ordering PJM to take specific steps to finally update its interconnection queue rules to meet national standards. PJM is now required to plan for battery storage and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in commonsense ways. In light of two straight years of record-high prices in PJM\u2019s capacity auction\u2013and demands from multiple states to clean up its act and better protect customers from price spikes\u2013it is high time for the power grid operator to get back on track. Sixty-seven million customers in the nation\u2019s largest power grid have been subjected to unreasonably high power bills because of PJM\u2019s inaction. We hope that these changes, combined with PJM\u2019s recent plans to use AI to more quickly complete studies, will speed up the woefully beleaguered interconnection queue. We urge the grid operator to make the ordered changes and work with PJM states and environmental and consumer advocates to process the interconnection queue faster and reduce prices. Background: On Thursday, July 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a ruling on PJM Interconnection\u2019s request (filed in May of 2024) for exceptions to comply with Order 2023. FERC\u2026 For the third time sent the issue back to PJM to come up with a new plan for compliance around how it studies battery storage and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs). PJM will finally be required to make realistic assumptions and plan for the grid of the future. However, FERC also approved PJM\u2019s longer interconnection queue study timeline. FERC Order 2023 is a set of reforms the Commission issued in July of 2023. It is designed to help power grid operators across the nation modernize their grids and streamline the interconnection process to reduce the wait time for new power plants to come online. PJM has the nation\u2019s longest wait times in its \u201cinterconnection queue,\u201d the line of new energy resources waiting to connect to the grid and come online. The wait time for those resources\u2013mostly wind, solar and battery projects\u2013is more than five years. The resources stuck in PJM&#8217;s queue could provide abundant and low-cost energy for the region and bring down the record-high prices in PJM&#8217;s capacity market, but the wait times are so long that some of them don\u2019t even get built. In June of 2024, seven organizations \u2014 including CUB, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice \u2014 filed a protest to PJM\u2019s request for exceptions. Among other things, CUB argues\u2026 If PJM has publicly stated that the grid is in a crisis caused by supply constraints and rising demand, then why is it slow-walking interconnection reforms? PJM, for example, requested that FERC allow it 540 days to complete two studies required for the interconnection process\u2013significantly longer than the time called for in the federal reforms. PJM takes an illogical and problematic stance on batteries, assuming that energy storage will sap electricity from the grid during peak-demand times, when it [&hellip;]","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/CUB_IL_LogoBadgeRGBAdminLogo.png","thumbnail_width":254,"thumbnail_height":254}