On Jan. 29 PJM sent a letter to members, state regulators, and owners and operators of backup generation for data centers and other large load customers in response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Jan. 26 order, under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, directing certain customer-owned backup generation facilities to operate under emergency conditions.
The order authorized PJM, in collaboration with its Transmission Owners, to implement that directive if needed to avoid customer outages under the extreme weather conditions the region is experiencing.
The Energy Secretary’s Order finds that using backup generation in this manner “can prevent avoidable blackouts, thereby saving lives and reducing costs to the American people.”
PJM expects to be able to continue operating the bulk electric system reliably through these recent challenging weather conditions without having to implement this new backup generation procedure, but we also want to have every tool at our disposal to avoid power outages if conditions get significantly worse.
This communication, sent to large load customers and PJM stakeholders, is intended to:
- Notify large load customers of what is being asked of them
- Emphasize that PJM will be working with the Transmission Owners (and other appropriate entities) to implement the Order
- Reinforce that the Transmission Owners (and other appropriate entities) will be the main operational and communications point of contact for affected customers; and
- Outline the procedure through which large load customers would ultimately be called upon by the Transmission Owners (and other appropriate entities) to move to backup generation.
Read the full notification letter on PJM.com.