Press Release

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s electric utilities are projecting milder demands for electricity this summer, compared to the all-time summer peak demands experienced in 2001, and have assured the Public Utility Commission (PUC) that they have enough power to meet customer needs while maintaining a sufficient power reserve for emergencies.

The utilities outlined their projections yesterday during the PUC’s annual summer reliability meeting. Each fall and spring, electric utilities project how much electricity customers will use for the upcoming winter and summer seasons.

"These reliability meetings are an important opportunity for us to focus on the need for prudent energy planning to meet demand in the summer months," said Chairman Glen R. Thomas. "In the weeks to come, we are going to be carefully examining reliability standards."

Participants in yesterday’s meeting, including Allegheny Power, Duquesne Light, FirstEnergy and the PJM Interconnection, also discussed their programs to reduce electricity consumption during periods of extremely high demand. Called demand side response, the programs typically reduce power to large customers when the demand for electricity approaches the system’s maximum level, or peak capacity. The customers generally receive a discount on their price of electricity for agreeing to be interrupted during the peak periods. Demand side response programs are vital to controlling wholesale power prices and to ensuring reliability during hot summer days.

In western Pennsylvania, the East Central Area Reliability Council (ECAR) projects a summer season demand of 99,346 megawatts, less than the 2001 record peak demand of 100,700 megawatts. The ECAR region has generation resources totaling 120,382 megawatts. The group also has the ability to reallocate another 3,018 megawatts by reducing power to interruptible customers. ECAR’s capacity margin has increased from 11.5 percent in 2001 to 19.2 percent in 2002.

ECAR is one of 10 regional reliability councils of the North American Electric Reliability Council. It strengthens the reliability of its members’ electricity supply systems by coordinating the planning and operation of generation and transmission facilities. It is comprised of Allegheny Power, Duquesne Light and Penn Power in Pennsylvania and electric utilities from Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Kentucky and Michigan.

In eastern Pennsylvania, the PJM Interconnection projects a summer season demand of 52,569 megawatts but expects to have 62,567 megawatts of available power, representing a reserve margin of about 19 percent. The PJM, based in Valley Forge, Pa., is a regional power pool that coordinates electricity transmission for the Mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

On April 1, 2002, Allegheny Power joined PJM West, integrating its operations with PJM. PJM West projects a summer demand of 8,127 megawatts, with a generating capability of 10,136 megawatts. The combined PJM/PJM West summer demand is expected to be 60,696 megawatts. Duquesne Light this month asked the PUC for approval to join PJM West. The PUC is expected to act on Duquesne’s request this summer.

Overall, Pennsylvania is a net exporter of power, meaning the state produces more electricity than it uses. Because of long-range forecasting and coordinated planning, the summer’s electricity needs will be met.