PJM has extended a Cold Weather Alert for the ComEd service area to noon on Dec. 13.
A Cold Weather Alert is a routine procedure PJM issues in advance of significantly cold weather conditions expected for all or parts of the region PJM serves. Low temperatures are expected to reach single digits in the ComEd region, which includes Chicago and other parts of northern Illinois.
When issued, PJM communicates with generation owners to tell them to be prepared to call in additional staff to get all units running for when electricity use begins to increase. Generation owners must take extra care to maintain equipment so that it does not freeze in the cold and are reminded to provide updated information to PJM on limitations to their units, including time required to start and the max and min times that their units can run once started.
A Cold Weather Alert can also be used to defer or reschedule planned generation maintenance outages and/or transmission outages and/or recall transmission/generator outages, if necessary.
As of noon, Dec. 12, PJM expects to serve peak loads of around 119,000 MW for Dec. 12 and 120,000 MW for Dec. 13.
Dec. 11 Update: Cold Weather Alert Issued for ComEd Region for Dec. 12
PJM has issued a Cold Weather Alert for the ComEd service area for Dec. 12.
A Cold Weather Alert is a routine procedure PJM issues in advance of significantly cold weather conditions expected for all or parts of the region PJM serves. Low temperatures are expected to reach single digits in the ComEd region, which includes Chicago and other parts of northern Illinois.
When issued, PJM communicates with generation owners to tell them to be prepared to call in additional staff to get all units running for when electricity use begins to increase. Generation owners must take extra care to maintain equipment so that it does not freeze in the cold and are reminded to provide updated information to PJM on limitations to their units, including time required to start and the max and min times that their units can run once started.
A Cold Weather Alert can also be used to defer or reschedule planned generation maintenance outages and/or transmission outages and/or recall transmission/generator outages, if necessary.
A Cold Weather Advisory has also been extended to noon Dec. 13 for PJM’s Western Region. As of 9 a.m. Dec. 11, PJM expects to serve a peak load of around 119,095 MW on Dec. 12.
Original Story (Dec. 9): Cold Weather Advisory Issued for PJM Western Region for Dec. 12
PJM has issued a Cold Weather Advisory for its Western Region for Dec. 12 ahead of expected frigid temperatures in that region.
When PJM expects significantly cold weather to impact all or parts of the PJM footprint, it issues a Cold Weather Advisory to provide a two-to-five-day notice that forecast temperatures may call for a Cold Weather Alert. This is meant to give generation owners ample time to proactively prepare their units to operate during pending cold weather and to provide information to PJM about their operating availability, capabilities and limitations to help PJM operators plan for the extreme weather.
Temperatures are expected to reach the single digits in PJM’s Western Region, which will drive up the demand for electricity in that area.
The Western Region in PJM is made up of the following transmission zones and control areas:
- AES Ohio (formerly Dayton Power & Light)
- American Electric Power (AEP Ohio, Appalachian Power, Indiana Michigan Power and Kentucky Power)
- American Municipal Power Transmission
- ComEd
- Cleveland Public Power
- Dayton Power & Light
- Duke Energy Ohio and Duke Energy Kentucky
- Duquesne Light Company
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- FirstEnergy South – former Allegheny Power Systems (West Penn Power, Mon Power, Potomac Edison)
- FirstEnergy West – former American Transmission Systems, Inc. (Penn Power, Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison)
- Ohio Valley Electric Corporation
PJM Winter Preparations
PJM, the grid operator for 13 states and the District of Columbia, expects to have approximately 179,800 MW of resources to meet the forecasted peak demand of approximately 141,200 MW, plus a forecast average of about 5,500 MW of electricity exports to neighboring systems. The system should also remain reliable under several more extreme and less likely scenarios involving lower levels of gas and/or renewable generation, higher electricity demand or increased exports, but extreme weather scenarios may require the use of emergency procedures.
Each year, PJM performs winter readiness assessments in advance of the cold weather months, collecting data on fuel inventory, supply and delivery characteristics, emissions limitations, and minimum operating temperatures. PJM meets with federal and state regulators and neighboring systems to review winter preparations. PJM also conducts weekly operational review meetings with major natural gas pipeline operators serving generators in the PJM footprint to coordinate operations with the pipelines that supply a large portion of the gas generation fleet. PJM and its members also conduct a cold weather operations drill ahead of each winter.
Additionally, ahead of this winter, PJM will schedule site visits to generation resources along with ReliabilityFirst and SERC, two of the six regional organizations that audit reliability standards on behalf of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
In 2023, PJM and the Independent Market Monitor developed and published guidance for generators (PDF) on how best to provide timely and accurate information about their operating parameters and availability during periods of natural gas pipeline operating restrictions.
PJM’s all-time winter peak was 143,295 MW, set on Feb. 20, 2015.