Oklo Says PJM Wrongly Dropped Its 750-MW Nuclear Project, Delaying It 14 Months

Oklo, an advanced nuclear technology company, accused PJM Interconnection of improperly removing a 750-megawatt power project from its interconnection study cycle, according to an emergency complaint the firm filed Friday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The project combines 150 MW of advanced nuclear generation, 300 MW of fuel cells, and 300 MW of gas-fired generation. Oklo says PJM's decision will postpone the project — which it describes as having "critical national importance" — by at least 14 months and substantially raise development expenses.

The Santa Clara, California-based company submitted all necessary materials to join PJM's interconnection queue on April 27, according to the complaint. PJM issued a deficiency notice on May 15 requesting additional details, and Oklo says it provided the information. The grid operator didn't reply to Oklo's emails proposing a scoping meeting or asking for confirmation that earlier issues had been resolved, the filing states. On June 24, PJM staff posted several concerns about Oklo's request on NextGen, the operator's platform for interconnection applications, but never sent a formal deficiency notice as required by PJM rules, Oklo alleges. On August 3, PJM informed Oklo it was pulling the project from the study cycle, citing in part the company's failure to demonstrate the project could withstand a sudden voltage drop.

According to Oklo, "PJM's decision to withdraw the project is the capstone to an unjust, unreasonable, and unduly discriminatory review process." The company says PJM's June 24 NextGen comments broke the grid operator's tariff requirements to flag deficiencies quickly and give applicants a chance to fix them. Oklo maintains it can address the deficiencies PJM identified and argues "there is no reason to exclude the project based on alleged deficiencies that, despite being unjustified, Oklo is prepared to remedy." The complaint doesn't name the project explicitly, but Oklo is planning a 1.2-GW power campus in Pike County, Ohio — within PJM's territory — that Meta is backing under a January agreement to supply power to Meta data centers.

PJM's interconnection rules weren't built to process the kind of multifuel project Oklo is developing, according to the complaint. The project is unusual because it includes both synchronous units — natural gas and advanced nuclear — and inverter-based units in the form of fuel cells, and because its synchronous components use two different fuel types, one of which is innovative advanced nuclear technology, Oklo said. The company aims to commercialize nuclear power plants ranging from 15 MW to 75 MW. After clearing its backlogged generation interconnection queue, PJM launched a reformed queue process earlier this year and on August 3 announced that 715 generation projects representing more than 200 gigawatts of capacity qualified for the first study cycle, including 100 GW of natural gas, 60 GW of storage, 17.3 GW of nuclear, 11.8 GW of solar, 7.5 GW of hybrid solar-storage, and 3.9 GW of wind.

Oklo asked FERC to order PJM to immediately restore its project to the current interconnection study cycle with its original queue position. The company also requested FERC grant any necessary waivers to prevent major delays to the study cycle and require PJM to respond to the fast-track complaint by September 4. PJM expects to finish the interconnection reviews in one to two years, depending on how each project affects the grid.