PJM has extended a Cold Weather Alert for its Western Region to Feb. 19 as frigid weather continues.
The Cold Weather Alert initially went into effect for PJM’s Western Region on Feb. 17.
PJM served a preliminary hourly integrated peak of 119,233 MW on Feb. 17. As of 8:30 a.m. Feb. 18, PJM currently expects to serve a forecasted demand of approximately 126,000 MW on Feb. 18 and 130,000 MW on Feb. 19.
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.
When a Cold Weather Alert is 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 maximum and minimum 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 remains in effect for the PJM Western Region through Feb. 20. PJM has also issued a Conservative Operations declaration for the PJM service area in order to allow PJM to commit gas generators through Feb. 19.
Feb. 14 Update: Cold Weather Advisory Extended to Feb. 20 for PJM Western Region
Procedures Also Issued To Enhance Generator Commitments Ahead of Extended Holiday Weekend
PJM has extended a Cold Weather Advisory for its Western Region through Feb. 20 ahead of expected cold weather beginning Presidents Day and lasting through the middle of the week.
A Cold Weather Alert was previously issued for the same area and is in effect from Feb. 17–18, but could be extended if needed.
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.
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.
When a Cold Weather Alert is 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 maximum and minimum 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.
Conservative Operations Issued
PJM also issued a Conservative Operations declaration for the entire region PJM serves, which will allow PJM to commit gas generators through Feb. 19. PJM is working with a subset of gas generators to get them online in advance of the approaching cold weather and the holiday weekend.
PJM implemented a similar strategy for the January “Arctic Outbreak” that occurred over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend.
PJM put this process in place as a result of lessons learned from Winter Storm Elliott over the Christmas holiday in 2022 and other extreme weather events. There are any number of weather, environmental, physical security or cybersecurity events that may require PJM to operate more conservatively. When PJM declares Conservative Operations, system operators have more flexibility to make decisions to maintain reliability by increasing reserves and/or reducing power flows on selected facilities.
Original Story (Feb. 13): Cold Weather Alert Issued for Feb. 17–18 for PJM Western Region
PJM has issued a Cold Weather Alert for its Western Region for Feb. 17–18 ahead of expected frigid weather.
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.
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.
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
- Duke Energy Ohio and Duke Energy Kentucky
- Duquesne Light Company
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- FirstEnergy South – formerly Allegheny Power Systems (West Penn Power, Mon Power, Potomac Edison)
- FirstEnergy West – formerly American Transmission Systems, Inc. (Penn Power, Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison)
- Ohio Valley Electric Corporation
A Cold Weather Advisory was issued for the same time period and region on Feb. 12.
Recent Winter Operations
In January, PJM operated through a so-called “Arctic Outbreak,” which was notable for sustained periods of cold flowing west to east for air and wind chill temperatures below zero, especially in the western states in the PJM region. The frigid conditions that set in on Jan. 18 reached a crescendo Jan. 22 with a new PJM record for hourly winter electricity demand (also known as load) of approximately 143,714 MW between 8–9 a.m., according to preliminary data.
In addition to reliably meeting that record load, PJM also continued exporting around 8,000 MW to neighboring grids that morning while maintaining its reserve margin. The six-day event ending Jan. 23 also produced PJM’s fifth-highest (139,208 MW on Jan. 21) and sixth-highest (138,799 MW on Jan. 23) winter loads, preliminary data show.
PJM Winter Preparations
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 scheduled 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.