AEP Requests FERC to determine battery project a transmission project in pjm

​On July 22, 2020, in EL20-58, AEP requested FERC to determine that its Middle Creek energy storage project (Middle Creek) is eligible for cost-of-service recovery through AEP’s transmission formula rates, and specifically through the transmission accounts designated for such projects in Order No. 784.  AEP asserts that Middle Creek is a transmission asset that has undergone full review through the PJM stakeholder process, and AEP does not propose that the project will participate in wholesale energy or capacity markets or provide ancillary services, and thus AEP does not propose to recover market-based revenues through those markets.  Middle Creek is an innovative battery storage project that will provide an efficient and cost-effective solution to address outages on the AEP transmission system. AEP carefully analyzed the cause of those outages and potential alternative solutions, including tearing down and rebuilding 14 miles of transmission line segments, and determined that a properly-sized battery storage solution would reduce customer exposure to the transmission outages at far less than the cost of the transmission rebuild project. The project went through the appropriate PJM stakeholder process, wherein it underwent the same review process as would a traditional wires solution. As such, AEP asserts that the Middle Creek Project is appropriately deemed a transmission project, consistent with the definition of a Transmission Facility under the PJM Tariff.