Collaborate & Prepare
PJM System Performed Well in All Weather
PJM’s dedicated team of operators, in coordination with PJM Members, balanced supply and demand to dispatch uninterrupted power in 2024, operating reliably throughout the year’s toughest weather.
A review of Winter Storm Gerri from January demonstrated strong generation resource and transmission performance, accurate load forecasting and successful coordination with neighboring grid operators.
Winter
Peak Load:
133,597
MW
Jan. 17, 2024
- PJM served winter peak load of approximately 133,597 MW on Jan. 17. That day also showed good generator performance despite cold conditions.
- Improved cold weather preparedness reported by more than 400 generators in advance of Winter Storm Gerri contributed to enhanced reliability.
- PJM recorded forced generation outages of about 16,000 MW on Jan. 16. This marked improvement from Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022, when generation outages reached up to 46,000 MW.
- PJM exported approximately 13,000 MW to support neighboring grid operators during the storm event.
Total Solar Eclipse
PJM balanced some unique circumstances to operate reliably through a rare total solar eclipse on April 8. The PJM load forecast for this milestone event accurately accounted for load impacts of school closings, cooler temperatures as skies briefly darkened, eclipse-driven changes to consumer behavior and behind-the-meter solar generation. PJM operators maintained system control in coordination with neighboring grid operators, member generators and transmission owners. Dispatch of on-demand generation resources helped account for a plunge in solar generation of about 11,000 MW during the event – 6,200 MW of grid-connected solar and approximately 4,900 MW in rooftop (behind-the-meter) solar.
Solar Eclipse Load Forecast to Actual
Summer Operations
PJM observed a 2024 summer peak load of about 152,666 MW on July 16 – roughly 6,000 MW higher than the year prior. To meet this demand, PJM successfully coordinated with unit owners, particularly to reschedule maintenance outages.
The 2024 summer was one of the hottest in years, and energy use reflected that with 18 days exceeding 140,000 MW – the most in a decade. PJM issued Hot Weather Alerts covering 28 days, compared with 21 in summer 2023. In August, PJM issued a Maximum Generation Emergency/Load Management Alert, a procedural step PJM communicated to alert neighboring grids that non-firm exports may need to be reduced in order to maintain reserves. Alerts do not indicate that emergency actions are currently needed.
Hot Weather Alert Days
Enhancing Grid Resilience
PJM in 2024 implemented operating policies and procedures to enhance the grid’s ability to remain resilient in the face of events that are infrequent but have significant consequences:
PJM conducted Voltage Reduction Action tests with transmission owners.
These tests fulfilled a recommendation from the Winter Storm Elliott report (PDF). The process successfully provided baseline data on the level of load reduction operators can expect from a Voltage Reduction Action and helped transmission owners exercise their own ability to implement one.
Voltage Reduction Action is the last option to ease stress on the system to avoid rotating outages by reducing distribution-system voltage in concert with transmission owners to reduce system load and increase transmission transfer capability.
Future voltage reduction tests will be incorporated into operations procedures, including a winter Voltage Reduction Action held on Feb. 5, 2025.
To improve gas-electric coordination, PJM joined regional transmission organizations ISO New England (ISO-NE), Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) in publishing a position paper (PDF) to inform policymakers of system challenges whose resolution would enhance reliability.
PJM incorporated wildfire protocols into its manuals. This step allows for effective communication and operations procedures when wildfires threaten grid facilities.
PJM enhanced dispatch tools to advance situational awareness several days in advance of the operating day.
Aftab Khan Appointed Executive Vice President – Operations, Planning & Security
In March, Aftab Khan was appointed Executive Vice President – Operations, Planning & Security.
As a member of PJM’s Executive Team, Khan has overall responsibility for grid operations, transmission planning, cybersecurity and physical security, and business continuity.
He previously served as senior vice president of engineering with Eversource Energy, the utility serving 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where he was responsible for electric transmission and distribution system planning, capital planning, engineering and design, standards, asset management, grid modernization, operations technology, control room support, and vegetation management.
He also previously held various leadership roles with GE and ABB providing products, projects and services to the electric utility industry. These leadership roles included engineering, operations and general management roles for high-voltage circuit breakers, transformers, power cables, EPC substations, power systems consulting, Flexible AC Transmission Solutions (FACTS), and High-Voltage DC Transmission Systems (HVDC).
Khan holds an MBA in operations and finance from Carnegie Mellon University, a master’s degree in electric power engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alaska.
I am eager to help PJM take on the many challenges presented by the energy transition. PJM’s creation of this new role shows the company’s commitment to seeking comprehensive solutions that emphasize reliability and security as the system evolves.
Shifting Operations Ahead
In 2024, PJM broadly shared its concerns that new generation is not coming online fast enough to replace the capacity value of retiring resources, while forecasted demand continues to grow at a rapid rate; this is a trend faced by many grid operators across the U.S.
Khan testified Oct. 16 about growing operational complexity, increasing load and the need to maintain resource adequacy before the annual Reliability Technical Conference at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Khan said:
PJM is undergoing a profound shift in operations.
Different physical attributes of mostly intermittent resources include limited dispatchability and their contribution to voltage support, load following and stability.
Multiple megawatts of these renewable power resources will be required to replace each megawatt of retiring thermal generators.