Overview
- Wholesale electricity on PJM’s 13‑state grid averaged $136.53 per megawatt-hour in the first quarter of 2026, up 76% from a year earlier, according to the grid’s independent monitor.
- Monitoring Analytics says large data centers are the main cause of tight supply and higher prices, estimating a $13 billion customer hit from the last two capacity auctions.
- The watchdog warns the customer impacts are large and not reversible, noting capacity charges surged 398% while transmission costs rose about 5% in the quarter.
- PJM says the higher prices reflect a tightening market and says it is extending price caps through 2029, advancing transmission projects, and pursuing rule changes to ease consumer costs.
- Fixes under debate include requiring data centers to line up their own generation or wait in a queue until capacity exists, as pressure from governors, utilities, and the White House mounts and some utilities threaten to leave PJM.