PJM’s Speed to Power Problem and How to Fix It

This policy brief by RMI argues that PJM's slow interconnection process and high network upgrade costs are driving a capacity crisis in the mid-Atlantic grid. The document highlights how the time required to bring new generation online has increased to eight years, causing capacity auction prices to skyrocket and increasing costs for ratepayers. RMI proposes four primary solutions: implementing third-party automation software, reforming Energy Resource Interconnection Service (ERIS), utilizing advanced transmission technologies (ATTs), and prioritizing proactive regional transmission planning.

• PJM's interconnection process is a primary driver of a regional capacity crisis, with the time required to bring new generation online increasing from an average of less than two years in 2008 to over eight years in 2025.
• The slow interconnection queue has led to a surge in capacity market clearing prices, which rose from $29 per megawatt-day to a market cap of $330 per megawatt-day across two auctions. Consequently, the total capacity bill for ratepayers increased from $2.2 billion in December 2022 to $16.1 billion in the latest auction.
• The results of PJM's 'Transition Cycle 1' (TC1) interconnection study show significant attrition; of the over 100 GW that applied, only 17 GW received draft interconnection agreements by the end of the study.
• PJM's interconnection study cycle remains too slow to meet economic needs; the TC1 process took 544 days, and when accounting for the time projects spend in the queue before studies end, the process takes 1.75 years, exceeding the one-year target for efficiency.
• High network upgrade costs are causing projects to drop out of the queue, as these costs often exceed benchmarks set by the Department of Energy and NREL.
• RMI recommends four specific fixes for PJM: deploying third-party automation software (such as Pearl Street Technologies or Nira Energy), reforming the ERIS pathway to be faster and cheaper, integrating advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) to reduce costs, and shifting toward proactive regional transmission planning.
• A 2024 study by RMI and Quanta indicated that three types of advanced transmission technologies could have more cost-effectively and quickly interconnected 6 GW of new resources in TC1, yet these were not utilized in the final interconnection agreements.

APA

RMI (2025). PJM’s Speed to Power Problem and How to Fix It. https://rmi.org/resources/pjms-speed-to-power-problem-and-how-to-fix-it/

Chicago

RMI. PJM’s Speed to Power Problem and How to Fix It. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/pjms-speed-to-power-problem-and-how-to-fix-it/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=PJM’s Speed to Power Problem and How to Fix It |date=4 November 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/pjms-speed-to-power-problem-and-how-to-fix-it/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025pjms, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{PJM’s Speed to Power Problem and How to Fix It}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/pjms-speed-to-power-problem-and-how-to-fix-it/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }