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PJM Reports 6.8-GW Shortfall After 2028/2029 Capacity Auction

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Regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection Tuesday said unforced capacity generation secured through its 2028/2029 base residual auction and under the Fixed Resource Requirement provision is 6,831 megawatts short of its reliability requirement.

The shortfall means that "the committed supply is less than what would be required to meet the one-event-in-10-year reliability standard," according to a statement from PJM, which coordinates electricity supply and transmission across 13 US states and the District of Columbia in the mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest.

While the shortfall was expected given last year's the around 6,500 MW supply deficit in the 2027/2028 delivery year capacity auction, this was the first time that the entire RTO fell short of the reliability requirement, the statement said.

The RTO intends to seek an approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a special 'Backstop Procurement' in September to "to help address the near-term shortfall in electricity supply."

"Such a shortage does not necessarily mean that the PJM system will be unable to serve load reliably in the delivery year; it means that PJM would have to operate with slimmer reserves and a greater level of risk. PJM continues to hold a reserve margin of 14.7% for the 2028/2029 Delivery Year," the statement added.

About 138,318 MW of UCAP was secured through the 2028/2029 base residual auction, while an additional 10,864 MW was procured through FRR, with a total of 149,182 MW available to meet forecasted peak electricity demand and reserve margin requirements, the statement said.

The capacity price came in at the FERC-approved cap of $325/MW-day UCAP across the PJM region, down 2.5% from $333.44/MW-day cap in the previous year's auction.

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