Chapter 79 Feasibility

The next morning, Dan Miller appeared at the Morris Building on the third floor right on time.

He was wearing a dark gray work jacket and carrying a black briefcase filled with blueprints and data.

His face wore the rigor characteristic of an engineer, but Mu Xin could see a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

He did not understand why a college student in his early twenties was so well-versed in PJM rules.

Jessica brought in coffee, and Victoria was sitting in the corner, calculator already out.

Mu Xin sat at the head of the table, wiped away the messy scribbles on the whiteboard, and wrote down three lines:

N-1 Compliance Assessment

Emergency Reliability Determination

Self-Financing Plan

"Dan, we talked about the PJM process over the phone yesterday," Mu Xin said, turning to look at Dan.

"I didn't come to ask you about the process today; I came to ask if we can use the emergency channel."

Dan put down his coffee cup, his brow furrowing slightly.

He was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.

"Mr. Mu, the emergency channel does exist, but the threshold is very high." Dan pulled a document from his briefcase and pushed it toward Mu Xin.

"This is the PJM Reliability Standard, N-1 criteria. Look at this clause."

His finger moved across the document and stopped under a paragraph: "Every load center must have at least two independent power sources."

"After any single component failure, the remaining system must be able to carry the full load without any power outages."

"This is the current power supply situation in Oxford Town." Dan opened another blueprint and drew a circle on it with his finger.

"There is only one 69kV line coming from the Butler substation, seventeen miles long, built in 1972."

"The end of this line is the Oxford Town substation, and the entire town's load is connected to this line."

"What if this line breaks?" Mu Xin asked.

"Total blackout in town." Dan's answer was blunt. "And it's not just theoretically possible; it's a certainty."

"This line runs through large tracts of farmland and forest, and it trips several times every thunderstorm season."

"In the past five years, there have been seven power outages in Oxford Town caused by faults on this line, with the longest continuous outage exceeding twelve hours."

"Do you have records of this data?"

"Yes. I can pull it from AEP's operational records. AEP is the owner of this line, and they have to submit reliability reports to PJM every year."

Mu Xin nodded. Seven outages in five years, with the longest being twelve hours.

This was not a fictional risk; it was hard, factual, and well-documented historical data. PJM's reliability analysts could not ignore these records.

"Dan, if I compile this data into a report and submit it to the PJM Reliability Assessment Committee, will they determine that Oxford Town faces a 'reliability risk'?"

Dan was silent for a while, tapping his fingers unconsciously on the table.

He was thinking, weighing, and using his professional knowledge to judge the probability of success for this plan.

"Mr. Mu, I am not with PJM; I cannot make decisions for them." Dan finally spoke.

"But I can tell you that in the past three years, PJM has approved a total of six emergency reliability projects. The reason for each one was either 'single contingency resulting in load loss exceeding 50 megawatts' or 'no backup for critical facilities'."

"Oxford Town's peak load is around 20 megawatts, which is not a large number."

"But the specificity of Miami University—a private university with over 20,000 faculty and students and no emergency power—is a plus."

"What do you mean by specificity?"

"There is a clause in the PJM guidelines: the power outage risk of 'critical public facilities' will be prioritized."

"Hospitals, fire departments, Police Department, universities, and large data centers all belong to critical public facilities."

"Miami University has over 20,000 faculty and students, many of whom are international students."

"If the whole town loses power for more than twenty-four hours, it will not only cause economic losses but could also trigger public safety incidents."

"PJM cannot ignore this reason."

Mu Xin picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. This time it was hot; Victoria had just replaced it for him.

"If we take the emergency channel, how much can the approval time be compressed?"

"Three to six months." Dan held up three fingers. "Three months at the fastest, provided that all materials are complete, there is no dispute in the assessment, and the committee does not request corrections."

"But I must remind you, three months is the ideal scenario. In reality, very few projects can be completed within this timeframe."

"The internal process at PJM is much more complex than you think. Data verification alone takes several weeks."

"Three months is still too long." Mu Xin put down his coffee cup. "The hotel opens next summer, and the power grid must be completed by May. If the approval drags on until the end of the year, construction will be too late."

Dan's brow furrowed even tighter. "Mr. Mu, no matter how anxious you are, it's useless. PJM is not the Public Utilities Commission; we cannot use..."

"I know." Mu Xin interrupted him. "PJM cannot be swayed by money or pressured by connections, so I need you to do one thing for me."

"What is it?"

"Help me run the numbers. If we don't connect to the PJM grid and build our own gas turbine power plant to supply power specifically to Oxford Town, how much will it cost?"

Dan was stunned, staring straight at Mu Xin as if confirming whether this young man was joking.

But Mu Xin's eyes told him he was not.

"Mr. Mu, are you serious?"

"I am very serious." Mu Xin leaned back in his chair, hands crossed on the table. "PJM's approval is too slow; I can't afford to wait."

"If I build an island power plant and generate my own electricity to use myself without connecting to the main grid, PJM won't be able to touch me."

"Ohio law allows for distributed generation. As long as the generation capacity does not exceed a certain scale, PJM's grid interconnection approval is not required."

"Look up that specific number you mentioned."

Victoria had already opened her laptop on the side. Her fingers were typing rapidly on the keyboard, and a professional excitement flickered in her light gray eyes.

"Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4928, Distributed Generation Systems: as long as the maximum net output at the point of interconnection does not exceed 20 megawatts, a simplified interconnection process can be followed."

"If there is no grid connection at all, then it is completely outside of PJM's jurisdiction."

"Twenty megawatts." Mu Xin repeated the number. "Oxford Town's peak load is 20 megawatts, exactly on the boundary."

"If I build a 20-megawatt gas turbine power plant and equip it with some energy storage facilities, how much will the total investment be?"

Dan picked up his calculator and started pressing buttons, his fingers dancing on the number keys, muttering to himself.

Mu Xin did not urge him, just waited quietly.

Victoria was also calculating, the numbers on her calculator screen jumping faster than Dan's.

"Mr. Mu, I will give you a preliminary estimate." Dan put down the calculator and looked up.