PJM Greenlights Nearly $12 Billion in T&D Capacity Expansions

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

The PJM Interconnection's Board of Managers recently OK'd a slew of projects in its service area, with Dominion, AEP and NextEra among those set to receive support for their developments.

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Dominion Lands at Top of List

Dominion Energy dominated last week's list of project approvals from the PJM Interconnection's Board of Managers, accounting for about $4.8 billion of the $11.8 billion in baseline transmission and distribution (T&D) projects to be greenlighted. The approvals are the first "Window" of PJM's 2025 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan, which is designed to relieve some of the most strained spots on the grid.

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $19 billion worth of active and proposed T&D projects across the PJM's service area, including projects from other recipients, such as American Electric Power Company Incorporated (AEP) and NextEra Energy Incorporated.

The full PJM service area covers all of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio, as well as eastern Kentucky, northernmost Illinois and northeastern Indiana. The projects approved last week are found largely in southern Virginia, which recently has seen significant additions to its power-generation capacity; New Jersey, which is facing delays for some of its offshore wind projects; and some of the easternmost areas of the service area, which are facing stronger load growth.

Among Dominion's proposals to receive support from the PJM board is its Loudoun County Reliability Project in northern Virginia, on the western side of Washington, D.C. The largest components of the project, which is designed to address risks posed to reliability by rapid data center growth, are a 40-mile line from Mineral to Midlothian; a 21-mile line from Bealeton to Bristow; and a 15-mile line from Mineral to Spotsylvania. The sprawling project also proposed construction for entirely new substations and upgrades and expansions to existing ones.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more about these components--including capacities, investment values and necessary equipment--from detailed reports on the Mineral-to-Midlothian, Bealeton-to-Bristow, and Mineral-to-Spotsylvania projects. Subscribers also can learn more about the Loudoun County Reliability Project from a full, detailed list of related project reports.

PJM also approved the updated cost and scope for NextEra's Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link Project (MARL), which includes a 105-mile line from Winchester to Ashburn, Virginia. The line will connect two substations under development: NextEra's Woodside Substation in Winchester and Dominion's Aspen Substation in Ashburn; the latter also is being developed as part of the Loudoun County project.

Subscribers can learn more from detailed project reports on the Winchester-to-Ashburn line, Woodside Substation and Aspen Substation.

By the Numbers

• $11.8 billion: Total investment value of baseline T&D projects to be approved last week by the PJM board
• $4.8 billion: Dominion's share of the approvals
• Nearly $19 billion: Total investment value of T&D projects across the PJM's service area, tracked by Industrial Info

AEP, FirstEnergy Also Backed

The PJM board also approved a proposal from Transource Energy, which is an AEP subsidiary, and FirstEnergy Corporation to build a 180-mile line from Moorefield, West Virginia, to Jefferson, Maryland, which is part of the broader Valley Link Transmission Project, much of which was approved by PJM in February 2025. The line originates at AEP's existing Welton Springs Substation in Moorefield and runs to FirstEnergy's proposed Rocky Point Substation in Jefferson, which is being developed as part of the project.

AEP, FirstEnergy and Dominion formed the Valley Link Transmission Company LLC joint venture in 2025 to develop the project. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Moorefield-to-Jefferson line and the Rocky Point Substation, and can learn more about Valley Link from a full, detailed list of related project reports.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed T&D projects across the PJM's service area.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Key Takeaways

• The PJM board's latest slate of project approvals focuses on areas facing some of the strongest load growth.
• The approvals are the first "Window" of PJM's 2025 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan.
• A project shared among AEP, FirstEnergy and Dominion is one of the winners.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR News Intelligence) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).