Dive Brief:
- Natural gas will unseat coal as the primary fuel in PJM's generation mix beginning May 2015, according to PJM Interconnection President and CEO Terry Boston.
- Natural Gas Intelligence reports the current mix is about 40% coal, 30% gas, 19% nuclear and 11% other sources, including renewables, but those percentages are changing as the industry rapidly moves to natural gas as a primary fuel.
- PJM officials said federal policies, a rapid shift towards natural gas and the growth of non-traditional generation has driven the electric industry to recognize a greater need for resource diversity.
Dive Insight:
PJM's Boston and FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur both spoke at PJM’s Grid 20/20 conference in Washington, D.C.
"We’re facing a big change from the normal pace at which the grid evolved. Looking back 80 years, typically it has taken a decade for a new fuel to emerge as a major source of generation,” Boston said. “This myopic focus on one fuel source per decade has resulted in something very important for reliability—a diverse mix of fuels in PJM. Next May, for the first time ever, we will see natural gas surpass coal in our fuel mix."
According to LaFleur, competitive energy markets have done a good job attracting new generation. PJM issued a statement summarizing some of her comments, and said she "noted that in the last several years the FERC has issued many orders trying to make sure new resources can fairly participate in electricity markets."
