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The Real Grid Crisis Is A State Policy Problem Dressed Up As A Market Failure

Zero Rss
1 month ago
The Real Grid Crisis Is A State Policy Problem Dressed Up As A Market Failure

Authored by Todd Snitchler via RealClearEnergy,

There's a critique of PJM making the rounds: PJM - the largest grid operator in the United States - is too big. There are too many state interests at play, and PJM doesn't have the ability to function cohesively or quickly enough. FERC even scheduled a governance technical conference this month to examine whether PJM's stakeholder structure can move fast enough to respond to demand. The reality is that policy disagreements at the state level are dressed up as a procedural defect with the grid, opening the way for critics to point their reforms at the wrong target.

Disagreements at the state level are just what you'd expect, pitting those that generate enough power to export against those that depend on imports. Pennsylvania is PJM's energy workhorse, shipping out roughly a quarter of everything it generates. Illinois, West Virginia, and Michigan also produce more than they consume. The others - Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware - are net importers, and increasingly so as data centers expand across their footprints.

Exporters like Pennsylvania that are rich in nuclear, gas, and coal generation have fundamentally different interests in capacity pricing and transmission cost allocation from an importer state, which has restricted natural gas development, leaned hard into renewables, or joined an ambitious emission reduction program. When Virginia pulls in more expensive power from its neighbors, or when Maryland absorbs double-digit rate hikes, that isn't a governance failure - it's the market doing its job by revealing the cost of divergent state policy preferences (and thus resource access).

These state policy preferences are then lobbed at the market and its participants to respond to, whether by prematurely retiring generation, relying on tax subsidies, or simply building generation that is more expensive per megawatt when compared against traditional baseload fuels.

PJM is actively working to continue the evolution of the market to meet the demand of today and the future. It has cleared more than 60% of its interconnection backlog under a reformed study process and opened a new study cycle this spring in partnership with Google to apply AI to speed up the review process. A separate PJM program, the Reliability Resource Initiative, pulled in more than 11,000 MW of new projects that could come online quickly. PJM has also adjusted its review processes to allow more wind, solar, and storage to compete directly in the capacity auction. It's even accepted a price collar through 2030, demonstrating that it is willing to make short-term adjustments in response to concerns by state executives.

More than 46,000 MW of approved projects - over a quarter of PJM's existing capacity - already hold the right to build but are unable to move forward. Some 37,000 MW of PJM-approved generation can't even break ground at all because of state and local permitting fights. At the same time, state policy mandates have pushed working plants into early retirement, further tightening supply from the other end. The same governors demanding faster action are often the ones holding the permits and slow-walking the buildout of energy infrastructure while forcing closures of dispatchable power.

PJM is not too big. It has demonstrated time and again that it can run a competitive power market and ensure the reliable transportation of power across 13 very varied states and the District of Columbia. It's been successfully doing this for more than 30 years, delivering $5 billion in savings annually to customers, just as it was designed to do. It's accelerated the queue and kept the lights on. What the market cannot do is permit projects or draft legislation. States must recognize their role in restricting the full benefits of the market.

Asking PJM to continue navigating these policy issues in the same manner - trying to respond to all of them - is a recipe for disaster. The states are absolutely responsible for chucking icebergs into the path of this ship, and if it goes down, they'll have themselves to blame for the aftermath.

Todd Snitchler is President and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA).

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 18:40
Tyler Durden

LA28 boss Casey Wasserman slashes prices of LA mansion by $8M

NY Post
1 month ago
LA28 Olympics boss Casey Wasserman has slashed the sales price of his Los Angeles mansion by nearly $8 million months after marking it down by $2.6 million. The sports mogul’s Kubrick-inspired glass-and-terrazzo abode is now asking just $24.995 million, a staggering drop from its $32.5 million price tag when it hit the market in September...
Daniel Farr

Pro-Palestine Activist Reportedly Murdered By Migrant Boyfriend

Zero Rss
1 month ago
Pro-Palestine Activist Reportedly Murdered By Migrant Boyfriend

The phrase "suicidal empathy" has exploded like wildfire across social media in the past year largely because there are so many tragic stories of migrant crime against people who advocate for open immigration.  Liberal women and devout leftist activists work in immigration centers or open their homes to third world migrants, only to be brutally assaulted or murdered by those same people.

It's important to understand that the third world views the west not as a new home or an opportunity for integration, they view the west as a target for conquest.  By extension, they see western citizens as people to be subdued; as fat cattle to be culled.  Coexistence is simply impossible, but woke activists consistently risk their own lives and the lives of others in a foolish attempt prove the opposite.

Case in point:  Prominent Irish Pro-Palestine activist Jamey Carney was found dead by her 13-year-old daughter in their rented home in Killarney, Ireland on July 7th, 2026 - Her skull was violently bludgeoned, though the official cause of death is listed as "suffocation". 

The one and only suspect? Ahmad Al-Saqar, a Jordanian migrant who Carney met at a Pro-Palestine rally.  She invited the man to stay at her home on occasion, though his primary residence was the government run asylum center (migrant hotel) in Killarney.  Neighbors report a loud argument between Al-Saqar and Carney just before she was found dead. 

The couple were in a romantic relationship and Al-Saqar often referred to Carney as his "bride" and his "princess" on social media.      

The migrant is now on the run and is believed to have fled the UK for Turkey immediately after the murder.  The chances of apprehension and punishment are slim.  UK authorities are more likely to sweep migrant crimes under the rug than they are to pursue international suspects.  Al-Saqar is believed to be Muslim (95% of Jordanians are Muslim), though official reports do not mention his religious background.

Jamey Carney was previously a US citizen, living in New York and working in real estate and insurance.  Her reasons for moving to Ireland and diving into the activist movement in 2021 are not clear.  However, relocation to Europe has been a growing trend among American liberals since 2016.  

The irony of a woke activist being murdered by a migrant from Jordan is not surprising. The cultural divide in how women are treated in Islamic society vs western society is vast and violence against women is common.  A number of progressive activists have been attacked by migrants across the US and Europe while engaging in advocacy programs.  Yet, progressives continue to deny that third world immigration is dangerous. 

Brenda Blainey, An 87-year-old woman in Thornton-le-Dale, North Yorkshire, befriended and invited Shahin Darvish-Narenjbon (a failed Iranian asylum seeker she met in a restaurant years earlier) to live with her. She treated him like a grandson, but he murdered her in her home in a vicious attack in 2023. He was later convicted of manslaughter (diminished responsibility). 

Jean Dussine, a well-known 63-year-old French activist who headed a local migrant assistance organization and frequently hosted migrants in his personal home was bludgeoned to death in his sleep in May 2020. Police arrested a 21-year-old Afghan migrant who had confessed to the attack.  

Numerous assaults, sexual assaults and murders have been reported across the UK and Europe in relation to migrant hotels.  In many cases, these attacks target the very people working or volunteering at the hotels.  However, most countries in Europe purposely avoid tracking the immigration status of suspects to prevent public backlash against multicultural projects.  

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 18:05
Tyler Durden

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