PJM filed its reliability backstop procurement tariff with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday — the filing the paper twice reported missing [1]. The July 28 and July 30 editions carried PJM's absence as a record. Friday's filing puts the 6,831 MW backstop auction, the $555/MW-day willingness-to-pay cap, the Large Load Registry with its 50 MW threshold, the curtailment hierarchy, and the Sept 30-Oct 21 auction window on the FERC docket under ER26-3380-000 [1].
The paper carried the absence twice. The filing is the payoff.
The Filing's Terms
The filing implements the PJM Board of Managers' July 27 decisional letter, which directed PJM to file proposals for a Reliability Backstop Procurement and an Interim Resource Adequacy Service (formerly "Connect and Manage") [2]. The key elements:
A Large Load Registry, maintained by PJM, covering end-use customers with peak load of 50 MW or more at a single point of interconnection or multiple points within a one-mile radius [2]. The registry is intended to improve load forecasts and support the procurement.
A Reliability Backstop Procurement beginning in September 2026, aimed at addressing the capacity shortfall identified in the Base Residual Auction. The procurement target will be adjusted to reflect bilateral contracts and self-supply arrangements for new load [2].
An Interim Resource Adequacy Service required for new Large Loads that do not have sufficient capacity as of June 1, 2027. These customers would face load reduction triggered before other emergency load management [2].
The $555/MW-day willingness-to-pay cap sets the price ceiling for the backstop auction. The Sept 30-Oct 21 auction window is the operative timeline. An Aug 10 stakeholder workshop is the next concrete date.
The Board Letter's Framework Met
The paper's July 28 and July 30 editions tracked PJM's absence as a record — the board letter's framework existed, but the tariff filing did not. Friday's filing closes that gap. The terms that were proposed are now filed.
The board letter's "state action is essential" line remains the paper's frame on cost allocation. The filing proposes the mechanism; whether states adopt their cost-allocation frameworks is a separate record.
Utility Dive reported the filing aims to fill a capacity shortfall driven by surging data center demand, which could grow by 70 GW by 2038 [1]. The filing's Large Load Registry threshold — 50 MW — is the operative hook for data-center cost allocation.
What the Paper Knows and Does Not Know
The paper knows: the RBP tariff was filed July 31; the docket is ER26-3380-000; the $555/MW-day cap; 6,831 MW backfill target; 50 MW Large Load Registry threshold; curtailment hierarchy; Sept 30-Oct 21 auction window; Aug 10 stakeholder workshop.
The paper does not know: FERC review timeline, stakeholder response to the Aug 10 workshop, whether the $555/MW-day cap holds through the process, Large Load Registry enrollment numbers, and the auction's actual capacity results.
The board letter's framework met its tariff on Friday. The paper carried the absence twice; the filing is the successor record.
-- HENDRIK VAN DER BERG, Brussels