PJM, Members Ready For Winter With Sufficient Electricity Supplies

PJM Interconnection, which manages the high voltage power grid for 13 states and Washington, D.C., has sufficient resources to meet forecasted demand for electricity this winter it said Thursday.

PJM continues to work with its members to test equipment and procedures, ensure adequate fuel supplies and coordinate with the natural gas industry to better align electric and gas operations for winter.

PJM expects to have 177,628 megawatts of electric capacity resources available to meet the forecasted demand of 131,720 MW, which does not include the expected reduction from demand response. The 2014-15 winter peak use of electricity was 143,295 MW.  

Although temperatures are forecast to be milder, PJM must be prepared for any periods of extreme cold that may occur.

"PJM has taken many steps to reinforce generator readiness and to continue to improve coordination with natural gas pipelines, a key source for a large portion of the generation fleet," said Michael Kormos, executive vice president and chief operations officer for PJM.

To prepare:

-- PJM studied the impact of higher load levels, higher generator outage rates, as well as a combination of these scenarios and their impacts on the power system.

-- PJM studied the impact on the transmission system of severe gas availability issues that can affect generator availability.

-- PJM makes winter generation testing available to generating units that have not run in the eight weeks prior to Nov. 1, on either primary or alternate fuel.

-- Generators have also completed a fuel inventory survey to assess their fuel supply status.

Communication and coordination between the natural gas and electric industries continues throughout the year and more frequently through the winter season. Last month, PJM and pipeline companies exchanged information relative to the upcoming expected winter operations.

PJM and the pipelines begin the season with monthly calls to discuss generation and transmission outages. Starting Nov. 1 through March, the calls are daily to discuss gas and electric grid system status.

For more information, visit the PJM Interconnection website.