PJM Cost of New Entry (CONE) Study for 2026/27
Project Highlights
- Costs of New Entry (CONE) is a key element of the RPM to be reviewed periodically under PJM’s tariff.
- Estimated CONE for multiple resources for the 2026/2027 commitment period.
- Provided recommendation for the selection of the reference resource.
Project Description
Sargent & Lundy, as a subcontractor to The Brattle Group, performed another CONE study for the PJM 2026/2027 commitment period.
This is the third quadrennial review the Sargent & Lundy and Brattle team performed for PJM over the last decade as the team also prepared CONE studies for the 2018 and 2022 commitment periods.
Sargent & Lundy supported Brattle in the screening and selection of reference plant technologies and subsequently prepared cost estimates and performance projections, including:
- Total gross overnight capital costs, including most owner’s costs, all owner-furnished equipment, and all engineering, procurement and construction, and balance-of-plant costs.
- A capital drawdown schedule to be used in calculating interest during construction in the capital budgeting model.
- First-year fixed and variable operations and maintenance (O&M) costs.
- Performance data (MW output and heat rates) relevant for calculating energy and ancillary services revenues.
Project Scope
- Screening of reference plant technologies and locations.
- Developed detailed technical specification of each of the natural-gas fired combined-cycle plants, combustion turbines, and battery energy storage systems.
- Bottom-up capital cost estimates.
- Fixed and variable O&M estimates (hours based and starts based).
- Heat balances for performance estimates.
- Addressing stakeholders’ questions.
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