PJM says electric supply for summer sufficient for region

PJM Interconnection said in its annual summer assessment that the electric supply for the region it serves is sufficient.

PJM, the country’s largest electric grid, serves nearly 65 million people 13 states, including Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. In its annual assessment of the power supply for anticipated conditions, it projected that a non-diversified peak demand for electricity this summer at approximately 156,000 MW. Performance reliability studies for the grid have tested loads nearly 163,000 MW, the company said. Additionally, PJM has more than 186,000MW of installed generating capacity it said could meet demand in order to cover “historically observed summer generation outage scenarios.”

“PJM works diligently throughout the year to coordinate and plan for peak load operations, with reliability as our top priority,” PJM President and CEO Manu Asthana said. “We’re not saying these extreme conditions will happen, but the last few years have taught us to prepare for events we have never seen.”

PJM cautioned that extreme scenarios indicate tightening of the reserve margins and a possible need to reduce loads in certain conditions. The company said one of the responses it can implement is interrupting service for customers who have previously agreed to temporarily have service interrupted in exchange for a capacity payment. That scenario, the company said, could occur in the event of extraordinary electricity demand and high generator outages. However, the company said those scenarios were unlikely.

PJM said its all-time, one-day highest power use 165,563 MW, recorded in the summer of 2006. According to the company, it takes an average of one megawatt to power 800 homes.