Commissioner Rosner’s Concurrence to Order Accepting Tariff Revisions re PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. under ER26-1563

Docket Nos. ER26-1563-000, ER26-1563-001

I concur in today’s order accepting PJM’s Expedited Interconnection Track (EIT) process, which will advance up to 20 “shovel ready” generation projects over the next two years to address PJM’s near-term resource adequacy needs.  I write separately to highlight an essential component of PJM’s proposal.  Specifically, the EIT process requires project developers to get a commitment from the state to expedite consideration of the project’s siting to ensure that the project comes online within three years.[1]

But today’s order will not by itself get badly needed steel in the ground.  Given states’ siting authority over generation and transmission, public utility commissioners, governors’ offices, and state legislatures are all necessary partners in ensuring that energy infrastructure is built at the pace needed to stay ahead of demand and keep energy affordable and reliable for PJM customers.  We depend on PJM states, load-serving entities, and developers to take the financing, procurement, permitting, and construction steps needed to turn PJM market signals into steel in the ground.  To this end, I am encouraged that some states have started taking meaningful steps to streamline permitting,[2] and I respectfully encourage others to continue pursuing similar reforms.

For these reasons, I respectfully concur.