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On July 16th, nine Governors sent a letter to PJM Board Of Managers to raise concerns about “unwelcome developments reflect legitimate concerns about PJM’s trajectory.”   The PJM governors who signed the letter were from Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and other non-PJM governors were from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The Governor’s letter express concerns with growing energy demand and data center growth, frustration over interconnection delays, and seeks more say on ongoing leadership selection process.

One day later Governor Mike DeWine writes similar letter expressing his support of the other nine state governor’s request for a more open dialogue between PJM and governors.  

Excerpts from Governor’s Letter to PJM Board:

“Today, as our regional grid confronts intertwined reliability and affordability crises, PJM itself faces an unprecedented crisis of confidence from market participants, consumers, and the states. In the past, other regions looked to join PJM due to its many strengths; today, across the region, discussions of leaving PJM are becoming increasingly common. These unwelcome developments reflect legitimate concerns about PJM’s trajectory. We write, as a bipartisan group of Governors elected by the many millions of citizens of our respective states, to tell you that fundamental changes, and new leadership, are needed to restore confidence in PJM’s ability to meet the many challenges of this moment.”

“With billions of ratepayer dollars and the stability of our grid at stake, it is critical that PJM take concerted, effective action to restore state and stakeholder confidence. We write today with a first step that will begin to restore PJM’s legitimacy as the neutral grid operator it must remain: you must appoint distinguished, widely respected individuals to these two open Board seats. They must be individuals who understand the concerns of ratepayers facing rising costs and who will be ready to collaborate with the incoming CEO to instill a new, more collaborative and more effective ethos at PJM.”

“Specifically, it is imperative that you select widely respected leaders who are intimately familiar with the PJM region and its challenges. Successfully recruiting individuals of such stature would itself begin to restore public confidence in PJM. Fortunately, we are aware of several such candidates who could form a balanced, bipartisan slate, representing a new vision for PJM’s engagement with the stakeholder community and with our collective states. In choosing these candidates, it is essential that you follow a more transparent, open process, giving Members an opportunity to vote publicly on reform minded candidates.”

“As Governors representing the vast majority of PJM’s 67 million customers, along with a majority of the load, and supply in the region, we request a meeting with the eight members of the Nominating Committee to share our proposal for a balanced slate of candidates. Representatives from our offices will be available to meet in Philadelphia alongside the July 23rd Members Committee meeting.”

“PJM itself faces an unprecedented crisis of confidence from market participants, consumers, and the states. In the past, other regions looked to join PJM due to its many strengths; today, across the region, discussions of leaving PJM are becoming increasingly common. These unwelcome developments reflect legitimate concerns about PJM’s trajectory. We write, as a bipartisan group of Governors elected by the many millions of citizens of our respective states, to tell you that fundamental changes, and new leadership, are needed to restore confidence in PJM’s ability to meet the many challenges of this moment.”

“In the long-term, we further believe these two Board seats must remain dedicated to candidates who are proposed by the states collectively and then vetted by the Nominating Committee, rather than leaving important decisions regarding every member of the Board to closed-door deliberations. At a time when PJM faces difficult decisions that could substantially raise consumer bills, we strongly believe ongoing Board-level representation of these perspectives is essential to preserving PJM’s legitimacy.”