Live Dispatched Reserve Quantities, Requirements and Shortages

PJM five-minute real-time dispatched reserves by reserve area and product, with reported shortage indicators, reserve quantity, reserve requirement, reliability and extended requirements, market clearing price and MW adjustment.

Ancillary Services data PJM market

Query with the agent

Native record

five-minute dispatch interval x reserve area x reserve product

5-minute publication cadence

Evidence

Observed market data

Published observations from the named source

Time basis

Point-in-time records

UTC · event_time

Overview

This is the live operational reserve-shortage evidence for synchronized, primary and 30-minute reserves, including PJM_RTO and Mid-Atlantic/Dominion, rather than the delayed settled reserve market results or regulation prices. Compare the same interval with energy prices to investigate reserve scarcity. Dispatch and pricing runs differ; this feed does not identify a specific generator trip or reconstruct energy LMP. Source timestamp strings are preserved alongside parsed UTC event_time.

Query contract

Read FINAL and compare reserve quantity, requirement and shortage indicator on the same event_time, area and reserve_type row.

Analysis rules

Primary reserves include synchronized reserves. Do not sum synchronized and primary quantities, requirements or deficits; regional reserve areas also overlap PJM_RTO.
Requirements, quantities and shortage indicators are interval snapshots, not additive energy. Retain reserve_type, area and event_time for every comparison.

Interpretation

shortage_indicator is the operator-reported dispatch shortage flag. A reported shortage is reserve scarcity evidence, not the identity of a generator trip, an emergency declaration, or proof of a specific initiating event.
market_clearing_price is a dispatch-run reserve price in dollars per MW-hour. Dispatch and energy pricing runs differ; do not reconstruct energy LMP by adding these prices or overlapping reserve-product deficits.

Access

Query from your own tools

Use the guarded HTTP endpoint directly, or connect an MCP client and load the dataset contract with describe_data before calling query_data.

PJM MCP API reference

HTTP endpoint

POST /api/v1/datasets/pjm_dispatched_reserves/query

Need the full history of this dataset in Snowflake, Databricks or your own storage? Data services delivers it on a schedule.

Schema13

Column

Type

event_timeDateTime64(6, 'UTC')

datetime_beginning_utcString

datetime_beginning_eptNullable(String)

areaLowCardinality(String)

reserve_typeLowCardinality(String)

reserve_quantityNullable(Float64)

reserve_requirementNullable(Float64)

reliability_requirementNullable(Float64)

extended_requirementNullable(Float64)

market_clearing_priceNullable(Float64)

mw_adjustmentNullable(Float64)

shortage_indicatorNullable(Bool)

ingested_atDateTime64(6, 'UTC')

Sample data

event_time	datetime_beginning_utc	datetime_beginning_ept	area	reserve_type	reserve_quantity	reserve_requirement	reliability_requirement	extended_requirement	market_clearing_price	shortage_indicator	ingested_at
2026-10-08 03:20:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:20:00	2026-10-07T23:20:00	PJM_RTO	Thirty-Minute Reserve	13300.8	3190	3000	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:20:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:20:00	2026-10-07T23:20:00	PJM_RTO	Synchronized Reserve	1774	1774	1584	190	0.14	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:20:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:20:00	2026-10-07T23:20:00	PJM_RTO	Primary Reserve	2924	2566	2376	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:20:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:20:00	2026-10-07T23:20:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Synchronized Reserve	1592.5	1555	1365	190	0.14	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:20:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:20:00	2026-10-07T23:20:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Primary Reserve	2237.5	2237.5	2047.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	PJM_RTO	Thirty-Minute Reserve	12587.5	3190	3000	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	PJM_RTO	Synchronized Reserve	1774.5	1774.5	1584.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	PJM_RTO	Primary Reserve	2924.5	2566.7	2376.7	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Synchronized Reserve	1592.5	1555	1365	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Primary Reserve	2237.5	2237.5	2047.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	PJM_RTO	Synchronized Reserve	1774.5	1774.5	1584.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	PJM_RTO	Primary Reserve	2924.5	2566.7	2376.7	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Synchronized Reserve	1592.5	1555	1365	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Primary Reserve	2237.5	2237.5	2047.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:15:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:15:00	2026-10-07T23:15:00	PJM_RTO	Thirty-Minute Reserve	12587.5	3190	3000	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	PJM_RTO	Thirty-Minute Reserve	12411.2	3190	3000	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	PJM_RTO	Synchronized Reserve	1776	1776	1586	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	PJM_RTO	Primary Reserve	2926	2569.1	2379.1	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Synchronized Reserve	1592.5	1555	1365	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Primary Reserve	2237.5	2237.5	2047.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:19:17.167033
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	PJM_RTO	Synchronized Reserve	1776	1776	1586	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	PJM_RTO	Thirty-Minute Reserve	12411.2	3190	3000	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Primary Reserve	2237.5	2237.5	2047.5	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	PJM_RTO	Primary Reserve	2926	2569.1	2379.1	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088
2026-10-08 03:10:00.000000	2026-10-08T03:10:00	2026-10-07T23:10:00	Mid-Atlantic/Dominion	Synchronized Reserve	1592.5	1555	1365	190	0	false	2026-10-08 03:24:16.504088

Coverage

No time-indexed data — coverage isn’t applicable to this dataset.

Related ancillary services data

Related ancillary services data
Dataset	Description
PJM Day-Ahead Ancillary PricesPJM · hourly (day-ahead)	Cleared day-ahead ancillary-service capacity prices in PJM, one row per hour, reserve zone and product. 173,760 rows, 2022-10 to the next delivery day. Products: spin, primary_reserve, operating_30. 2 PJM reserve zones (RTO, and the Mid-Atlantic/Dominion subzone). primary_reserve is PJM's own name and is NOT the same set as another market's non_spin: it is the TOTAL 10-minute requirement, synchronized plus non-synchronized, so it overlaps spin rather than complementing it — spin + primary_reserve double-counts in PJM where it is additive elsewhere. Regulation is deliberately absent: PJM prices it in a separate feed (pjm.reg_prices) whose RMCP/RMCCP columns have not been mapped to this table's vocabulary with confidence. price_usd_mw is a price for CAPACITY held in reserve — dollars per megawatt of commitment — not dollars per megawatt-hour of energy delivered. The two are different units and are not comparable to an LMP.
Regulation PricesPJM · hourly	PJM hourly regulation results by area, including market clearing price, capability clearing price, cleared regulation quantity, and regulation requirement. These are different measures and must not be added together. Source: PJM Market Data.
Ancillary Service Market Clearing PricesSPP · 5-minute (RTBM) and hourly (Day-Ahead)	Cleared ancillary-service prices by SPP reserve zone for both the real-time balancing market and the day-ahead market. SPP's product set does not map onto other ISOs': regulation clears as a separate service (capacity) price and mileage price in each direction (reg_up_service, reg_up_mile, reg_dn_service, reg_dn_mile), alongside ramp up and down, spinning, supplemental, and uncertainty products. IMPORTANT: reserve_zone mixes two grains. It carries the numeric ancillary reserve zones (1 through 5 under the SPP balancing authority, 21 under the separate SWPW balancing authority) AND the two balancing-authority roll-ups, 'SPP' and 'SWPW', whose prices equal those of their member zones. Aggregating across every value of reserve_zone double-counts the market.
Ancillary Service PricesERCOT · hourly (DAM)	Hourly market clearing prices for the ancillary services ERCOT procures alongside energy in its Day-Ahead Market, broken out by product: Regulation Up (RegUp), Regulation Down (RegDown), Responsive Reserve (RRS), Non-Spinning Reserve (NSPIN), and the ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS). These prices represent what the grid pays per megawatt to hold capacity in reserve for frequency control and contingency response, separate from the energy itself. Watching them shows when reserves are scarce and expensive (often during tight or volatile conditions), which informs how generators and storage operators allocate capacity between energy and reserve markets, and gives researchers a read on the cost of keeping the Texas grid reliable. ECRS, added in 2023, is the newest of these products and has at times cleared at notably high levels.