Dominion Energy Virginia, American Electric Power and FirstEnergy Corp. have entered into a joint planning agreement to propose several new regional electric transmission projects across multiple states within the PJM Interconnection footprint.
The utilities on Oct. 7 noted that power demand in the PJM region "is growing at an unprecedented pace due to rapid expansion of energy-intensive industries such as data centers, the electrification of transportation and heating, and increased manufacturing onshoring."
At the same time, "the region's power generation mix is changing as legacy generation is retired and more renewables are added to the grid."
The investor-owned companies jointly proposed the projects through PJM's Regional Transmission Expansion Plan Open Window process in September.
PJM is the regional transmission organization that coordinates the transportation of wholesale electricity across the 13-state region that includes Virginia.
The proposed projects include several new 765-kV, 500-kV and 345-kV transmission lines in Virginia, Ohio and West Virginia.
The projects remain in the early stages of development. If selected by PJM, the companies would then "undertake an extensive, multi-year process to select routes, perform environmental studies, engage with communities, obtain state and local permitting and build the projects," they said.
In addition to the joint proposals, each of the three companies have also submitted individual proposals for other transmission projects consistent with how each company has participated in past PJM open windows.
