PJM weathered 2015 winter demand better than 2014: staff
The PJM Interconnection hit a new winter peak demand this winter, but the system performed much better than it did in the winter of 2013-2014, interconnection officials and staff said Monday.
During the PJM Members Committee Informational Webinar for stakeholders, Chantal Hendrzak, PJM executive director for operations support, said PJM hit a preliminary peak of 143,826 MW of demand on February 20, compared with 140,510 MW, excluding demand response, during the height of the Polar Vortex on January 7, 2014.
However, PJM’s forced outage rate for generators peaked at 13.3% on the morning of February 20, compared with 22.2% on January 7, 2014. Better awareness, winter testing, winter preparation and improved communications with PJM contributed to the relative success this winter, Hendrzak said.
