Learn About Each Regional Power Grid

ERCOT’s 4CP Program 
The Texas program is referred to as 4CP for the four summer months that are used to determine important parts of next year’s electricity bill. Specifically, a facility’s demand (in kW) during the four highest 15-minute intervals on ERCOT’s grid in June, July, August and September is measured by each utility to set the coincident peaks. The four monthly, 15-minute values during these intervals are averaged together to determine the 4CP demand value used by TDSPs during the next calendar year for all transmission charges. 

PJM’s 5CP Program 
PJM applies a similar methodology to determine each electricity meter’s CP value but takes the five highest hours from the five highest peak days during the months of June, July August and September. Unlike ERCOT, those five hours of the summer are not limited to a single day in a given month. In PJM, it is possible that multiple peak days and hours value could be set during a single five-day heatwave. Last summer, the 5CP hours in PJM were set during three consecutive days in July and two days in August. The average of those five hourly demand values on those five highest days determines a meter’s Peak Load Contribution (PLC) or Capacity Obligation for the following planning year. PLC values set this summer will be used to determine a meters PLC/Capacity Obligation for PJM’s planning year from June 2024 to May 2025.  

NYISO 1 CP
Unlike ERCOT and PJM, the NYISO uses the single highest hour of demand on the grid in the months of July and August to determine a meter’s capacity obligation or installed capacity (ICAP) tag. That hour can occur on any day in either month that is not a weekend or a holiday. A meter’s ICAP tag is determined by measuring its demand value during that hour of peak demand on the grid.  The ICAP value from this summer will determine your capacity obligation beginning in May 2024.