PJM Forum Reveals Possible Gas/Electric Interoperability Solutions; Underscores Need For More Discussion
VALLEY FORGE, Pa., June 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Aligning the natural gas infrastructure with the electric transmission infrastructure may be a complex challenge, but it is solvable, according to Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Philip Moeller who spoke at PJM’s Grid 2020 Focus on Gas/Electric Interoperability forum June 17.
“Creative ideas are welcome,” Moeller told the audience. “We need desperately to keep the momentum going on these issues. Everything changes if we have a big problem, and we will all be blamed,” Moeller warned.
The forum is one in a series of PJM events that provide members, stakeholders and policymakers with cutting-edge ideas, visions and technologies that will transform electricity. The focus on gas/electric interoperability is driven by the electric industry’s growing reliance on gas-fired generation. The shift to natural gas-fired generation is occurring because of retiring coal plants, new environmental regulations and the low-cost natural gas from shale reserves.
Strains on gas supply during recent extreme winters in New England and PJM led to generator outages and sparked what eventually evolved into the Winter Reliability Program in ISO New England and recently, Capacity Performance in PJM.
