Nine of the 10 electric utility members (excluding PECO Energy Co.) of the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) Interconnection have filed agreements and transmission tariffs at the FERC, seeking to replace the pool with a competitive power pool that would set a next-hour spot wholesale power price (to vary by location), but also allow bilateral trading.
The majority proposal would set up an independent system operator (ISO). The tariff would support poolwide open access and comparable transmission service. Reciprocal network service would give all network customers equal access to wholesale energy throughout the Mid-Atlantic market. The PJM rate for transmission service area would equal the average of all PJM members' transmission rates.
PECO Energy favors a single rate applicable anywhere within the PJM. "Locational energy and transmission pricing proposals . . . would overcharge PJM customers by amounts that could be well over $100 million a year," says Alvin J. Weigand, PECO senior vice president for bulk power enterprises. t
Story items by Lori A. Burkhart, an associate legal editor of PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY.