Audubon-based PJM Interconnection directs the flow of electricity for more than 67 million people in 13 states and shapes energy costs across the region, writes Sophia Schmidt for WHYY.
Electricity bills have been rising throughout the Mid-Atlantic, largely because grid operators, such as PJM Interconnection, are facing skyrocketing costs to ensure sufficient electricity to meet demand.
Regulated utilities, such as PECO and Delmarva Power, appear on your electricity bill, but they cannot own the power plants that generate electricity. Instead, they purchase electricity on a wholesale market run by the regional grid operator, in this case, PJM.
PJM, the largest regional grid operator in the country, runs a system that is similar to a stock exchange.
“There’s generators on one side – the producers who are producing the electricity,” said Abe Silverman, an energy consultant and research scholar at Johns Hopkins University. “They’re selling it through the PJM market … to utilities who then are selling to end-use consumers.”
PJM, which is a nonprofit, does not own the physical grid infrastructure. Instead, it ensures sufficient electricity flows from power plants through high-voltage lines and substations to where it is needed, while preventing the grid from overloading.
Read more about PJM Interconnection in WHYY.
