​PJM's Transition Cycle 2 (TC2) has completed Phase 2. The phase closed on June 5, 2026, and Decision Point II followed on July 7. Of the 607 projects that entered the cycle, 278 remain active. The cycle is now in Phase 3, with the next decision point projected for January 2027.

82 battery energy storage projects cleared Phase 2, totaling 8.5 GW of energy interconnection rights and 7.1 GW of capacity interconnection rights (CIRs). Storage therefore represents 28% of the active queue's ~30 GW of energy interconnection rights.

Two new PJM policies are visible across this cycle: transferable CIRs and the Reliability Resource Initiative. Both aim to bring capacity online faster in a tight market. But, they mostly have expedited solar and gas, not storage.

Key takeaways

• 82 batteries cleared Phase 2 of PJM's TC2, totaling 8.5 GW of MW Energy and 7.1 GW of capacity rights. Virginia alone holds 33 of them, at 3.2 GW.
• Four-hour systems dominate, with 63 projects at 5.8 GW. A long-duration cohort is also emerging, led by nine ten-hour projects.
• Transferable capacity rights are mostly a solar tool so far. Of the 18 projects claiming them, 14 are solar, though one battery, the 670 MW Chalk Point, holds nearly half the transferrable CIR volume.
• The Reliability Resource Initiative fast-tracked gas, not storage. Only 3 of its 41 active selected projects are batteries.
• Batteries attrit at a higher rate than the queue by project count, 62% versus 50%, but align with the rest of the cohort in megawatt terms. High and rising interconnection cost is the strongest indicator of further withdrawals.

Which batteries are progressing through the queue

Most active batteries are standalone. Of the 82, 62 are standalone, 20 pair storage with solar (hybrid), and 21 share a point of interconnection with another resource (co-located). Standalone projects give the clearest read on merchant storage appetite in PJM.

Geography is concentrated. Virginia leads by a wide margin, with 33 projects totaling 3.2 GW. Illinois follows at 1.5 GW, then Maryland at 1.3 GW, with Indiana and Ohio behind. Virginia's position reflects the data-center load growth drawing new capacity toward the state.

Durations point to a maturing market. Four-hour systems dominate, with 63 projects at 5.8 GW total. There is also an emerging long-duration cohort: nine ten-hour projects, mostly Midwest solar-paired systems, plus four six-hour projects at roughly 1.7 GW.

How PJM's new policies shaped this wave

Two PJM policies, both introduced in 2025, are visible in this cycle. Both arrived amid a tight PJM capacity market. Neither, so far, has functioned primarily as a battery mechanism.

Transferable capacity rights are mostly a solar tool, with one large battery exception

PJM's Replacement Generation Interconnection Process took effect on January 30, 2025. It allows a new resource at a retiring plant's site to inherit that plant's capacity interconnection rights through an expedited study. In principle, a battery can take over the grid connection that a closing coal or gas unit vacates.

In practice, the mechanism has been used mostly by solar in TC2. Of the 18 active projects claiming transferred rights, totaling 1,562 MW, 14 are solar. Only three involve storage: one solar-plus-storage hybrid and two standalone batteries.

The largest single transfer, however, is one of the batteries. Chalk Point, a 670 MW project, is inheriting the capacity rights of a retiring Maryland coal unit. That one project accounts for nearly half of all 1,562 MW of transferred rights in the cycle, even though solar accounts for most of the projects.

Most transferred rights cluster around a handful of closing fossil units. A group of 11 projects is backfilling the retiring Yorktown 3 unit in Virginia, alongside smaller transfers from Chesterfield 6 and Morgantown.

The Reliability Resource Initiative fast-tracked gas, not storage

The Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI) was a separate, one-time fast-track window that ran from late February to mid-March 2025. Unlike the CIR transfer rule, it did not draw from the existing queue. It opened a distinct application path for both new-build projects and uprates to existing plants.

The technology split is decisive. Of the 41 active RRI-selected projects, 27 are gas and 5 are nuclear. Only three are storage, and all three are Tenaska new-build batteries. While RRI added meaningful capacity to TC2, it did so almost entirely for thermal generation.

PJM selected 51 of roughly 94 applications. Of those, 41 remain active and 10 have since withdrawn. Among the 41 active projects, 33 are uprates and 8 are new builds.

Who are the developers behind these projects?

Battery projects are registered under special-purpose entities, so ownership is not disclosed directly. Modo Energy identified parent companies for 56 of the 82 batteries. The remaining 26 are left unidentified rather than attributed speculatively.