The Midlothian Business Alliance reported on May 13, 2026 that Commonwealth Fusion Systems had become the first fusion company to apply to PJM for grid interconnection — the first time a fusion power plant developer had requested to join a major grid operator. The application covers CFS's ARC power plant, planned in Chesterfield for the early 2030s.
At a glance
What: An interconnection request filed with PJM for the ARC fusion power plant
Who: Commonwealth Fusion Systems; PJM
When: Reported May 13, 2026; the plant planned for the early 2030s
Where: Chesterfield — described by CFS as the heart of Virginia
What the filing does
Through the submission, CFS demonstrated the ability to connect a fusion power plant to a system that serves about 182,000 megawatts of capacity and more than 65 million customers. The Alliance noted that submitting the interconnection request helps to de-risk delivering power from the ARC plant, since it is one of the long-lead actions necessary to connect a grid-scale power plant in the early 2030s. As part of the submission procedure, CFS would work through PJM's stress-test process to show it could reliably help meet the region's surging energy demands.
CFS placed the plant in the heart of Virginia, the region with the highest forecasted load growth in the U.S. By entering PJM's queue at that point, the company aimed to ensure it could connect to the grid on completion of construction.