The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a “request for information” for generation and storage projects that could be eligible for state backing in a fast-track grid connection process proposed by the PJM Interconnection, the DEP said Friday.
“The Department is interested in collaborating with a wide range of entities capable of developing one or more eligible large-scale energy generation or storage projects within this Commonwealth,” the DEP said in a notice.
The DEP also wants to know about large-scale projects that don’t meet the PJM's proposed eligibility requirements to “better understand why and what other opportunities might be available for future projects.”
The request is in response to the PJM’s proposal to open an Expedited Interconnection Track by August — a plan that is under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Under the proposal, PJM would consider up to 10 interconnection requests a year on a fast-track basis for new or uprated capacity resources of at least 250 MW that have state support. If approved, the program would sunset at the end of 2027.
To be eligible for the process, project developers must have complete site control for their project and interconnection facilities when they file an EIT request. Also, the project must be able to come online within three years of filing the request. PJM expects it would take about 10 months to review an EIT application and sign an interconnection agreement.
PJM’s proposal faces opposition at FERC from Vistra, which said it is “unworkable” and discriminates against independent power producers. The Sierra Club and other groups said PJM’s plan is biased towards large generating resources.
Through its request for information, the DEP said it aims to identify developers that can build eligible projects that could be submitted by the fourth quarter and would advance state priorities, such as having an “increasingly diverse and economically sustainable energy mix” that lowers costs for ratepayers.
When responding to the notice, project developers should indicate if they plan to pair their project with a data center developer committing to uphold the governor's “responsible infrastructure development” standards.
Responses are due June 5.
Pennsylvania has almost 22 GW of projects in PJM’s interconnection queue, including 12.6 GW of solar and 7.9 GW of storage, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s database of U.S. interconnection requests.
