The PJM Interconnection marked the completion of Transition Cycle 1 Interconnection Studies Friday, sending out draft agreements for 130 New Service Requests to be completed or withdrawn by year’s end.
This marks another milestone in PJM clearing its transition backlog, as only Transition Cycle 2, set to be completed next year, remains.
The agreements represent 128 new generation service requests for a combined energy output of approximately 17.4 gigawatts, including 8.4 GW of capacity. The projects by output are 56% solar, 25% wind, 10% storage, 5% hybrid and 3% natural gas.
The studies also include two merchant transmission projects providing approximately 2 GW of interregional transfer capability.
“This is another important step as we complete this transition phase of our reform efforts and fulfill the commitments we made to streamline the interconnection process,” said Jason Connell, Vice President – Planning.
These new service requests now enter the final Decision Point of the Cycle, in which they must post full security to move forward. While some projects are expected to withdraw by the Oct. 21 decision deadline, it is clear that the reformed interconnection process is filtering out nonviable projects and providing more certainty on the network upgrades needed to connect projects, Connell said.
“This is really good news for our ability to process large numbers of interconnection requests going forward,” said Donnie Bielak, Director – Interconnection Planning.
“The successful completion of Transition Cycle 1, Phase III was made possible through close collaboration between the interconnection and legal teams and by in-house software that has automated all or parts of the study process, the way study reports are written and drafting of agreements,” he said.
In July 2023, PJM began transitioning to a new, improved generation interconnection process designed to more expeditiously process new generation projects that are the most likely to get built.
Since then, PJM has studied approximately 160 GW of generation interconnection projects. The interconnection transition queue has been reduced to about 46 GW of projects, all of which will be processed by the end of 2026 in Transition Cycle 2.
The application deadline for Cycle No. 1 of PJM’s reformed interconnection process will be April 27, 2026. Going forward, the processing time for issuing Generation Interconnection Agreements will be one to two years, and PJM is exploring ways to speed the process further.
Outside of Transition Cycle 1, approximately 46 GW of generation projects had signed agreements to connect to the grid as of June. Completion of Transition Cycle 1 will add up to 17.4 GW to that existing number.
PJM has connected approximately 2.1 GW of new generation in 2025, composed of solar (2,033 MW), wind (55 MW) and coal (29 MW).
