PJM Interconnection's revamped connection-review process is opening with a gas-heavy first batch of projects, Inside Climate News reported, a striking change for the nation's largest grid operator as electricity use climbs and many long-delayed clean energy proposals still fail to reach the grid.
Here's what to know
In the first round under PJM's new system, 715 proposed projects totaling 201.5 gigawatts are moving forward for study; natural gas accounts for 99.8 gigawatts of that amount across 147 projects, according to Inside Climate News, as republished by Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
PJM data place battery storage next at 60 gigawatts. Nuclear follows at 17.3 gigawatts, then solar at 11.8, solar-storage hybrids at 7.5 and wind at 3.9.
The current mix looks very different from PJM's backed-up queue. In that queue, clean energy proposals accounted for more than 90% of the backlog, but many of those solar, wind and battery projects later unraveled after years spent waiting for study approvals.
PJM projects power demand to rise by as much as 70 gigawatts by 2038, with data centers accounting for much of the increase. To enter the study phase under the new "first-ready, first-served" approach, developers must now make upfront payments and demonstrate control of a building site.
Jason Connell, PJM's vice president of planning, said the updated rules are "designed to encourage projects that will get built."
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Why does it matter?
Looking at project counts rather than total capacity changes the picture: storage has the most proposals in this first study group, suggesting that clean energy developers remain active despite policy and market headwinds. PJM figures show 314 storage proposals, 117 solar projects and 61 wind proposals.
Jon Gordon, a director at Advanced Energy United, said the old queue system effectively crushed many renewable plans.
"The whole world had changed … COVID, supply chain disruptions, massive inflation, the Trump administration, you name it," Gordon said, describing how yearslong delays caused projects to collapse before construction could start.
Fossil fuel expansion can carry steep costs for nearby communities. Coal and natural gas plants contribute to air and water pollution linked to asthma, heart disease, cancer, and premature death, while also exposing households to fuel-price volatility that can keep electricity bills high.
Cleaner power sources such as wind and sunlight do not require ongoing fuel purchases, but slow grid processes and industry lobbying can delay those cheaper alternatives, keeping families tied to dirtier, more expensive energy.
Abe Silverman, identified by Inside Climate News as a research scholar with Johns Hopkins University's Ralph O'Connor Sustainable Energy Institute, said the gas-heavy queue reflects "a gold rush on right now for new gas to serve the other gold rush, the data centers."
What's being done?
PJM said the overhaul is meant to weed out speculation and speed up reviews for projects more likely to move ahead. The grid operator now uses readiness deposits, site control requirements and milestone deadlines that can push weaker proposals out before they absorb years of study time.
Jeffrey Shields, a PJM spokesperson, said the new process includes "stricter requirements, along with meaningful readiness deposits that are at risk as a project moves through the process." He added that grouped studies should help developers learn upgrade costs sooner and move toward construction faster.
Even so, PJM also said that permitting holdups, local opposition, supply chain backlogs, and financing problems can still derail projects.
Gas plants also face rising costs, which Gordon said have made them "very expensive plants to build compared to their clean energy alternatives."
A grid that can add cleaner, lower-cost power more quickly could reduce exposure to pollution and limit future bill spikes as electricity demand continues to climb.
As Silverman cautioned, "Just because we're starting the queue process doesn't mean that these projects are going to be on in the next couple of years."
He warned PJM could face "a period of very high rates" and reliability problems until new generation arrives.
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