In a March 18 op-ed, Mark W. Perry cited a study claiming there would have been blackouts throughout the PJM Interconnection electrical grid had coal not been available during the 2018 cold snap. He also asserts that a large percentage of natural gas was not available during that cold weather event. PJM has addressed this report numerous times; it is simply not true.
PJM’s operations are designed to ensure both reliability of power supply and competitive prices for customers. We dispatch generators based on the lowest cost resources available to meet demand.
It’s true that coal served a healthy portion of PJM’s fuel mix during the 2018 cold snap, but it’s not because natural gas wasn’t available. It’s because during the cold snap, coal and oil were cheaper. In fact, during the 2018 cold snap, PJM reserves were over 23 percent of peak load demand and there were very few units that were unable to obtain natural gas transportation.
The study that Perry references looks at a hypothetical scenario in which all of the coal generation in the PJM region, regardless of its economic health, suddenly disappears. But that’s not realistic. As uneconomic generation units retire, newer, more efficient, and economic units will take their place. That doesn’t happen at the snap of a finger, but over time.
Coal, like all resources contributing to the PJM system — including nuclear, natural gas, fuel oil, hydropower, wind, solar, other renewables, and demand response — plays an important role in keeping the power flowing to 65 million Americans. But not only was there no grid emergency, PJM is well-positioned to absorb the retirements of older, less-efficient generation sources and attract the investment in new, efficient technologies that strengthen, not weaken, the resilience of the bulk power system.
Michael Bryson is vice president of operations for PJM Interconnection.