Democrats Blame Grid Operator For Energy Crisis Of Their Own Making

Several Democratic governors are railing against a power grid operator for skyrocketing utility costs that their policies helped spike as a potential reliability crisis looms large.

Democratic Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Wes Moore of Maryland, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Matt Meyer of Delaware have criticized PJM Interconnection in recent statements and interviews to blame the operator for high electricity costs, according to The New York Times. Despite their outrage, East Coast Democrats have championed zero-emissions policies that have led to coal plant closures that threaten grid stability and raise utility costs for consumers, energy policy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“PJM is trying to keep the lights on,” Amy Cooke, co-founder and president of Always on Energy Research and the director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center told the DCNF. “These governors passed unrealistic goals of these net-zero clean grids, and now they don’t want to own their bad policy. … Their fantasy is meeting reality.”

PJM Unveils Improved System Map – https://t.co/XsJlmizCRa pic.twitter.com/z4yoqGyv0d

— PJM Interconnection (@pjminterconnect) June 26, 2017

Electricity rates and grid instability have been on the rise in the East Coast for years, particularly in the states that rely on green energy technology and have sought to phase out readily-available power sources like coal. The cost of electricity for consumers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania has increased, and they are all states that have made net-zero pledges or plan to phase out coal plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

These states have instead opted to push for green energy technology sources like wind and solar that are known to be less reliable.

PJM helps provide power to all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to its website.

The governors told the NYT that PJM has been too slow to add new solar, wind and battery projects, and that they have in turn decided to sue, draft or sign laws to enforce changes at PJM.

“PJM has lost the plot,” Murphy said in an interview, according to NYT. Moore told the NYT “I am angry” about PJM.

Murphy and Meyer also told the NYT that they supported legislation to reform PJM.

“I do not think PJM is serving the good people of Pennsylvania well,” Shapiro told the NYT. “We’ve got to re-examine whether or not Pennsylvania should be a member of PJM. We are a net energy exporter, meaning we create more energy than we actually need. That puts us in a strong position to both keep consumer prices low and also create markets in other states.”

Shapiro sued PJM in December over high electricity costs, though André Béliveau, senior manager of energy policy at the Commonwealth Foundation, told the DCNF that it is Shapiro’s policies that have led to this price increase.

“PJM doesn’t write policy. PJM has to work within the policy and political realities that they get from the states in that region,” Béliveau said, adding that his organization’s recent report analyzes how some of Shapiro’s proposed energy policies would immediately increase electricity costs.

Though PJM does play a pivotal role in adding power plants to the grid, it is subject to regulatory oversight. While the operator is mindful of the governors’ concerns, it must operate within the bounds of federal and state regulation, a PJM representative told the NYT.

“The opinions of our governors are very important to PJM and we share their concern about increasing electricity prices — a phenomenon occurring across much of our country,” PJM spokesman Jeffrey P. Shields told the NYT. “PJM has no profit motive, no shareholders, and no share price. We are fully regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and cannot make any major changes without that body’s approval.”

FERC, Murphy, Moore, Shapiro and Meyer’s offices did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment and PJM declined to comment.