Glatz said she does not expect the heat wave to cause blackouts in the PJM region, which serves 65 million people across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and part or all of Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.
While random disruptions such as a thunderstorm knocking down a power line could present additional challenges, the grid is designed with contingencies in place to absorb a certain number of generator and transmission outages, she said.
“We have all these factors built in already to protect against unexpected issues,” she said. “There’s enough margin.”
Late last year, an auction PJM uses to secure commitments from power plants so that electricity supply meets future demand failed to reach the grid operator’s goal for a buffer of excess supply, raising the risk of power outages starting next summer.