Christine Ho, christine.ho@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. - Over 105 state legislators across 10 states in the PJM footprint sent a letter to PJM urging the regional transmission organization to quickly deploy more affordable, renewable energy to lower energy costs for its 65 million customers.
Since 2023, PJM customers have experienced historic spikes in their monthly utility bills. In a poor attempt to address these price spikes, PJM announced their Reliability Resource Initiative in 2024, which allowed fossil fuel projects to cut the long queue of projects waiting to be added to the grid. As of September, just under 90 percent of PJM’s interconnection queue were affordable, renewable projects waiting to be deployed.
Renewable energy is currently the cheapest, most reliable form of energy, and the quickest source to get online. PJM’s history of prioritizing dirty fossil fuels in its queue not only worsens the toxic pollution from fossil fuels, but will continue to drive up already-high energy costs and provide less reliable energy during extreme weather.
“We are excited to see states continuing to lead, both to hold PJM accountable and to demonstrate the importance of having a forum for states to weigh in on substantive issues at PJM,” said Sierra Club Senior Advisor Jessi Eidbo. “It’s critical that states show united coordination as customers across the PJM footprint are seeing record-high electricity prices. By deploying the massive amounts of clean, affordable energy currently sitting in PJM’s queue, PJM would be lowering prices for customers and allowing states to meet their environmental commitments. This demonstration of multi-state coordination paves a path forward for a future PJM that directly responds to the needs of ratepayers throughout the region.”
“We are thankful to Senator Deeds, Senator Salim, Senator VanValkenburg, Delegate Simonds, Delegate Sullivan, and Delegate Hernandez for adding their names to this critical letter,” said Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Director Connor Kish. “We know that renewable energy sources are more reliable, cheaper, cleaner, and faster to deploy. To lower energy costs for Virginia families, it's past time to quickly deploy our most valuable resources. PJM must act and heed the call of the state leaders.”
“In the face of attacks on clean energy progress from our state legislature, it is critical that PJM reform its processes to allow long-awaited clean energy projects to come online,” said Sierra Club North Carolina Chapter Director Chris Herndon. “We are grateful to Representative Harrison and Representative Von Haefen for supporting this effort. Their leadership in this arena is essential as we continue to fight for cleaner air and lower energy bills for all North Carolinians."
“We’re deeply grateful to West Virginia Delegate Evan Hansen for standing with legislators across the region to call on PJM to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy,” said Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter Director Honey May. "With families crushed by rising power bills, Delegate Hansen is standing up for ratepayers by pushing PJM to move faster on the cheapest power sources we have: wind and solar.”
"PJM plays a quasi-governmental role in managing the electric grid that impacts tens of millions of people, including their electric rates and the pace of progress on expanding availability of clean energy," said Sierra Club Maryland Chapter Vice Chair and Legislative Chair Randy Lyon. "However, PJM has virtually no public representation in its governance. It is encouraging to see the growing recognition of this deficiency by regional leaders and independent experts. We hope this will lead to meaningful reforms."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.