FERC Denies Waiver for $2B Ohio Gas Plant in PJM Fast-Track Review
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 2 rejected a waiver request from Advanced Power Services for its roughly $2 billion, gas-fired Chestnut Run power plant project in Carroll County, Ohio, Utility Dive reports. The project sits in PJM Interconnection’s fast-track Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI) review process, which was designed for shovel-ready projects that could help meet near-term grid reliability needs. FERC found that granting the waiver would harm third parties by delaying PJM’s review of other generator interconnection requests, including other projects in the RRI queue, one of the commission’s core criteria for approving rule waivers.
Advanced Power, a Boston-based independent power producer owned by ArcLight Capital Partners, ran into an equipment supply hurdle when it couldn’t acquire the turbines originally planned for the project. The company asked FERC for a waiver to swap in alternate turbines, which would have meant reducing the plant’s maximum output by 55 MW to 1.245 GW and cutting its capacity interconnection rights. FERC sided with PJM, finding the equipment change would introduce “substantial delays” to the grid operator’s Transition Cycle #2 and ripple into the rest of its interconnection study schedule. PJM’s RRI initially included 51 projects totaling roughly 11.8 GW and barred changes to a project’s size or interconnection rights; 41 projects totaling 7.9 GW remain in the process, according to PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields, who said Transition Cycle #2 has a “decision point” this week where some developers may opt to withdraw. Advanced Power did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- A denied equipment-swap waiver on a $2B fast-tracked project is a cautionary signal for mechanical and electrical subs bidding turbine-dependent power projects: supply chain substitutions can trigger regulatory delays even on “shovel-ready” work.
- Contractors tracking PJM’s Transition Cycle #2 should watch this week’s developer decision point closely, as project withdrawals could reshuffle near-term bid opportunities across the remaining 41 RRI projects.
- The case underscores the value of locking in turbine and major-equipment supply contracts early in project development, before interconnection commitments are filed, to avoid exactly this kind of fast-track derailment.
