The PJM Interconnection has told federal regulators that it opposes granting a waiver to a roughly $2-billion, gas-fired project in order for it to stay in the grid operator’s fast-track Reliability Resource Initiative interconnection review.
The issue centers on Advanced Power Services’ Chestnut Run power project in Carroll County, Ohio. Earlier this month, the Boston-based independent power producer, owned by ArcLight Capital Partners, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a waiver from the PJM’s rules so it could reduce the project's maximum output to 1.45 GW from 1.3 GW and reduce its Capacity Interconnection Rights.
The RRI process, which initially drew 51 projects totaling about 11.8 GW, was designed for shovel-ready projects. It barred changes to a project’s size and its Capacity Interconnection Rights.
When Advanced Power applied to enter the RRI review process, it said it would use GE Vernova’s HA.03 turbine model and that the project would be operating by May 2030.
However, that model is in high demand, pushing out the project’s inservice date by at least two years, according to the waiver application at FERC.
Now, Advanced Power plans to use the GE Vernova HA.02 model, which would reduce the power plant’s maximum output by about 550 MW but allow it to come close to the originally planned online date.
Also, without the waiver, the project could be ineligible for the PJM’s upcoming reliability backstop auction, which will likely require projects to be online by June 1, 2032, according to the waiver application.
PJM contends Advanced Power’s request to FERC fails to meet the agency’s criteria for issuing waivers, including that it be limited in scope, resolves a concrete problem and wouldn’t have undesirable consequences.
Granting the waiver request would give Advanced Power an unfair advantage over other project developers who are complying with PJM’s tariff, and it would disrupt its interconnection review process, the grid operator said in a June 18 protest at FERC.
Also, there is no evidence that Advanced Power won’t experience delays in acquiring the HA.02 turbines, according to PJM.
PJM contends that Advanced Power has options for its project, including by applying for interconnection approval through the Expedited Interconnection Track process, which FERC approved on June 9, the grid operator said.
In a response filed June 23, Advanced Power told FERC that PJM had failed to show the waiver request falls short of FERC standards and also that its protest ignores the practical implications of the situation.
“The PJM region currently faces well-documented and unprecedented resource adequacy challenges, and the Commission has recently instituted proceedings focused on ensuring … that PJM and other regional transmission organizations are procuring sufficient capacity to address anticipated load growth,” Advanced Power said.
“PJM asks the Commission to deny a narrowly tailored waiver request … delaying more than 1.2 GW of firm, dispatchable capacity from a highly efficient natural gas electric-generating facility, by approximately two years — thereby passing up a concrete opportunity to bring much-needed firm, dispatchable capacity online in an expedited manner,” the company said.
Advanced Power asked FERC to issue a decision by July 1.
