An organization tasked with the job of making sure that there will be enough electricity available to meet the needs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 11 other mid-Atlantic states is proposing a plan to make up for the retirement of fossil fuel generators and increasing demand.

PJM Interconnection, which coordinates the movement of electricity through all or parts of 13 states, is proposing a plan to update the power grid.

While experiencing a 7,500-megawatt increase in demand, PJM says the grid has also lost 11,000 megawatts due to the deactivation of generating plants.

Earlier this week, PJM published a compilation of 72 proposals from FirstEnergy, Dominion, and other companies designed to meet future power needs.

The solution includes new substations, new transmission lines, and improvements to existing facilities. Most of the project components would use existing facilities and rights of way to reduce impacts to local areas.

The combined proposed cost of all solutions is approximately $5 billion, according to PJM.

Ken Seiler, Sr. Vice President of Planning, told stakeholders on Tuesday that the collection of projects meets the current system needs but will also provide long-term benefits to the entire PJM system for reliability and facilitate the interconnection of new resources.

He noted that the electrical needs presented by the changes in the system are reflected in the significant cost of the collective solution. “It’s well-documented that there’s going to be a lot more transmission required as we go through the energy transition, and this is an area that’s a prime example of that,” Seiler said. “We’re going to need several projects to meet those needs.”

The solution was presented at Tuesday’s meeting of the Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee.

The proposal will be presented a second time to stakeholders at the Dec. 5 Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee meeting before being brought to PJM’s full Board.