PJM Begins Process to Study How Utility Connected Microgrids Fit in its Market
The PJM Interconnection has begun a process to explore the role of utility connected microgrids in the organization’s wholesale power market.
The process “is part of a general effort to make sure PJM rules can accommodate all types of cases and resources and make sure there is nothing that prohibits incorporating microgrids,” Andrew Levitt, senior business solutions architect at PJM, told Microgrid Knowledge.
The issues PJM has identified will likely become even more pressing as microgrids continue to proliferate and, particularly, as microgrid developers seek to layer multiple revenue streams on to their business plans to help bring down capital costs.
The process is not the result of a request or order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is responsible for regulating PJM’s wholesale power tariffs, but it is in “the same orbit” as FERC Order 841, Levitt, says. The process grew out of a few stakeholder requests and interest from both utilities and developers of distributed energy resources.
Order 841, issued in February 2018, directed grid operators to remove barriers to participation of electric storage resources in wholesale markets.
