PJM Says It's Prepared For Arrival of Winter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The organization that manages the regional power pool for this area is gearing up for a colder than normal winter.
But, it expects to have plenty of electricity available to meet the demands of tens of millions of customers.
Ken Seiler, executive director of system operations for the PJM Interconnection based in the Valley Forge area, says his organization has been working for months to prepare for this season.
"We take a look at the weather, we take a look at the power plant availability that we have across the entire system," Seiler says. "We also take a hard look at what the expected power usage is and then we identify whether or not we have enough power in order to meet our customers' demand for that seasonal period."
Seiler says there's been a lot of coordination with member utilities to ensure power lines and substations are prepared.
"We do a lot of coordination with our local utilities like PECO and Baltimore Gas & Electric and PSE&G as well as the local gas companies because our gas-fired generation is very gas pipeline dependent, " Seiler says.
And, he says because 40 percent of the power from plants is generated using natural gas, arrangements are in place with gas utilities and pipelines to ensure a reliable flow of gas to those facilities.