PJM Expands Provisional Interconnection Service to Speed Up New Generation

PJM, the regional grid operator for a large swath of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, is working through a series of interconnection reforms aimed at getting new generation online faster amid a widening supply-and-demand gap. In a recent PJM Inside Lines post, Jason Connell, PJM's Vice President of Planning, laid out where that effort stands and what's coming next.

“PJM is working with the electricity industry and government officials to solve the supply-and-demand imbalance that is putting the reliability of the grid at risk and making electricity more expensive.”

According to Connell, PJM has moved from a first-come, first-served interconnection model to a first-ready, first-served process, and new generation applications under the reformed process are due by April 27, after which every project seeking to connect to PJM will be actively in process. The numbers he cites illustrate both the scale of activity and the churn in the pipeline: since 2020, PJM has completed interconnection agreements covering 103 GW of generation, of which 23 GW has actually gone into service and another 54 GW has cleared PJM's process but remains delayed — largely, developers say, by permitting issues rather than anything PJM controls. Reaching those totals required PJM to process 294 GW of proposed projects in total, with roughly three-quarters of studied capacity ultimately withdrawing.

A new "Cycle" process is intended to build on that progress by requiring developers to hit progressive milestones to stay in the study queue, filtering out speculative projects earlier and targeting a one- to two-year turnaround for new applications depending on their grid impact.

One of the more targeted changes highlighted in the piece is an expansion of Provisional Interconnection Service — a mechanism that lets a generator begin operating and injecting energy before all of its required network upgrades are finished, as long as an interim study confirms there's no transmission violation. PJM is now extending that option to a broader set of generators.

“PJM is expanding its availability to generators that don't yet qualify for Capacity Interconnection Rights but can offer energy in the interim, helping to address the urgent need for capacity while waiting for long-term system upgrades.”

That change sits alongside other queue-management tools PJM has rolled out, including a streamlined process for transferring Capacity Interconnection Rights from retiring generators to replacement resources at the same site, and Surplus Interconnection Service, which lets projects make use of interconnection capacity a facility isn't using around the clock — for example, pairing battery storage with an existing renewable site. PJM has also proposed an Expedited Interconnection Track for larger, advanced-stage projects and a one-time Reliability Resource Initiative covering roughly 8,000 MW of generation slated to finish study by the end of 2026.

For developers and buyers working to bring capacity online while they wait out longer interconnection and permitting timelines, tools like Provisional Interconnection Service matter because they shorten the gap between having equipment ready and actually delivering energy to the grid — which is exactly the bridge that NYTS's fast-power and turnkey delivery model is built to support.