The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission explored reforms to PJM governance and stakeholder processes during a daylong technical conference Thursday featuring two-dozen speakers.
Following commissioners’ remarks, the audience heard from James P. Danly, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and a former FERC chair, and Peter Lake, senior director of power for the White House National Energy Dominance Council.
Any reform should strengthen PJM’s ability to act, said PJM President and CEO David E. Mills, who participated in the first panel, “PJM Governance Mechanics – Board Authority, States’ Role, Filing Rights and Document Architecture.”
FERC Chair Laura V. Swett ended that session by asking panelists to briefly state specific changes that would improve PJM governance and the stakeholder process.
Mills advocated for more resources for state perspectives and participation by the Organization of PJM States (OPSI). Mills said PJM also seeks expanded rights to petition FERC, when necessary, to propose speedy consideration via what is known as a section 205 petition under the Federal Power Act.
“I would create an augmented OPSI organization that speaks for the totality of the states, and I would afford the PJM Board [section] 205 rights on the Operating Agreement and transmission planning,” Mills said.
Mills’ comments at the conference reflected PJM’s submitted testimony (PDF) to FERC, in which PJM expressly acknowledged the need for change and for a stakeholder process that advances solutions with greater efficiency.
“The PJM region is experiencing rapid load growth, tightening supply-demand conditions, changed resource economics and upward pressure on consumer costs,” the PJM testimony stated. “In this environment, governance and stakeholder processes play a direct role in determining how quickly and effectively PJM can respond to changing system needs. PJM is committed to meeting this moment, and the Commission is appropriately examining whether aspects of PJM’s governance and stakeholder processes should evolve to better enable our ability to do so.”
That PJM testimony was among dozens received by FERC prior to Thursday’s conference. In seeking comments from panelists and the public, FERC sought feedback “with a particular focus on identifying and evaluating concrete, actionable reforms to improve PJM’s ability to address operational and market needs in a timely and efficient manner” and “specific governance features and stakeholder processes in PJM that impact timely action on operational and market needs.”
PJM Signals Action To Preserve Reliability
After the panel, Mills further shared factors beyond PJM’s control that contribute to resource adequacy challenges amid concerns about extraordinary load growth and affordability.
“The binding constraint and largest risk are the failure to bring new generation online and into PJM’s auctions, with permitting, siting, interconnection and financing all contributing causes. The last two auctions produced lackluster new generation, even though more than 50 GW of resources have cleared PJM’s planning process and executed interconnection agreements,” he said.
Mills also signaled the imminent announcement of PJM proposals to FERC to maintain reliability and affordability amid extraordinary load growth. Determined by the PJM Board, the proposals to FERC reflect feedback and participation by diverse PJM Members, state regulators, consumer advocates and more from the recently concluded Critical Issue Fast Path – Reliability Backstop Procurement – Connect & Manage stakeholder process.
Mills noted that PJM will announce a September 2026 backstop auction with a 15-year term to help close the reliability gap in the coming days.
Mills stated, “The deeper issue may be investor confidence, weakened by repeated market-model changes; external interventions such as price caps; and broader narratives about leaving, dismantling or breaking up PJM.”
Joining Mills on the first panel were:
- Pat Wood III – Hunt Energy Network, Executive Chairman and Former FERC Chair
- Kelsey Bagot – Virginia State Corporation Commission, Chair
- Jacob Finkel – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Office, Deputy Secretary of Policy
- Stacey Burbure – American Electric Power, Sr. Vice President, Transmission Regulatory Engagement & Compliance
- Marjorie Rosenbluth Philips – LS Power, Sr. Vice President
- Maria Gulluni – ISO-NE, Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
PJM’s Asim Haque, Executive Vice President – Governmental and Member Services, participated in the first session of the second panel, “PJM Stakeholder Process – Design, Transparency, and Decision-Making.”
He was joined by:
- Suzanne Jaworowski – Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s Office, Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources
- J. Arnold Quinn – Vistra Corp., Sr. Vice President, Regulatory Policy
- Steven Lieberman – American Municipal Power, Inc., Vice President of Transmission & Regulatory Affairs
- Abe Silverman – Johns Hopkins University Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute, Assistant Research Scholar
- Kent Chandler – R Street Institute, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Energy and Environmental Policy
- Pamela Quinlan – GQS New Energy Strategies, Principal
Covering the same topics, PJM’s Dave Anders, Sr. Director – Stakeholder Affairs, joined a second edition of that discussion alongside:
- Glen Thomas – PJM Power Providers Group, President
- Jodi Moskowitz – Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., Vice President Regulatory – Law, Deputy General Counsel and RTO Strategy Officer
- Jameson Tweedie – Delaware Division of the Public Advocate, Public Advocate
- Mason Emnett – Constellation, Sr. Vice President for Public Policy
- Brian George – Google, Senior Lead, U.S. Energy Markets
- Susan Bruce – PJM Industrial Customer Coalition, Counsel
- Joseph Bowring – Monitoring Analytics, President and PJM Independent Market Monitor