1srelluc
Diamond Member
The organization that keeps the lights on for 65 million people across 13 states just told federal regulators it is running out of time. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, warned in a May 2026 market reform proposal that it has “years, not decades” to overhaul its electricity markets before surging demand from artificial intelligence data centers overwhelms available power supply. The warning landed weeks after PJM’s own capacity auction cleared at record-high prices, a signal that generators already see a tightening market and are charging accordingly.
PJM coordinates the flow of electricity from New Jersey to Illinois, managing a territory that includes northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” in Loudoun County, the densest concentration of data center capacity on Earth. That corridor alone accounts for roughly 70% of the world’s internet traffic on any given day, and it is expanding. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta have all announced or begun construction on massive new AI-focused computing campuses within PJM’s footprint, each capable of drawing hundreds of megawatts of continuous power.
PJM’s capacity market pays power plants to guarantee they will be available during periods of peak demand. In the most recent Base Residual Auction, clearing prices spiked dramatically compared with prior years, reflecting a market that sees new load arriving faster than new generation. The auction results, published on PJM’s own capacity market page, showed that the cost of securing reliable power is climbing in ways that will eventually flow through to household and business electric bills across the region.
So there you have it.....You will pay more because the AI Robber Barons are sucking up the currently available power.
How do you like them now?
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