Overview
- PJM heads into its next capacity auction today under unprecedented strain as AI-driven data centers soak up power faster than new plants can be built.
- Last year’s annual auction saw capacity prices jump over 800 percent, a spike that is translating into a projected 20 percent increase in consumer electricity bills this summer.
- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has warned the state may leave the interconnection unless wholesale costs come down.
- Reforms by PJM, including capping auction prices at $325 per megawatt-day and fast-tracking cleared projects, have yet to deliver the extra capacity needed.
- The grid has lost more than 5.6 gigawatts of generation in the past decade as retirements accelerate and new projects face permitting and financing delays.