While data centers power our digital lives, they’re absolutely hammering electricity customers’ wallets. A staggering $6.5 billion of PJM’s December capacity auction costs came straight from data center load – that’s 40% of the total $16.4 billion bill. And guess what? Most of these data centers don’t even exist yet. They’re just on paper, potentially coming online by 2027/28. Talk about paying for promises.
This isn’t a one-time fluke. The last three auctions saw data centers gobble up 45% of the $47.2 billion in total costs. Customers are footing the bill for facilities that haven’t drawn their first kilowatt. In the 2025/2026 auction alone, data centers caused 63% of the price spike – translating to $9.3 billion in extra costs. Ouch.
The numbers get worse. Capacity prices jumped tenfold thanks to projected data center growth. Starting June 2026, ratepayers will shell out an additional $1.4 billion annually. That means average residential bills climbing $18 monthly in western Maryland and $16 in Ohio. Your wallet feeling lighter yet?
PJM’s forecast keeps climbing. The 2027/2028 peak load forecast jumped 5,250 MW higher than the previous year’s, with nearly 5,100 MW coming from – you guessed it – data centers. The 2027/2028 auction procured 134,479 MW UCAP but fell short significantly of meeting the required reliability margin.
Meanwhile, supply struggles to keep pace. Though PJM added 2,669 MW of new generation and convinced 17 plants to postpone retirement, they still fell 6,516.6 MW short of reliability targets. Resource adequacy pressures continue to mount as data center demand accelerates beyond the system’s capacity. Integrating battery storage systems could help balance this growing demand by storing excess energy during off-peak hours for use during high-demand periods.
PJM isn’t sitting idle. They’ve processed over 170,000 MW of new generation requests since 2023 and launched initiatives to fast-track 11,000 MW of high-reliability projects.
They’re also proposing reforms for data center interconnection, including stricter vetting of large load forecasts.
Until these solutions take hold, expect the digital economy’s infrastructure to keep devouring your electricity bill. Progress comes with a price tag – and it’s addressed to you.
References
- http://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2026/01/pjm-interconnection-2025-year-in-review_6.html
- https://www.rtoinsider.com/122643-pjm-pushing-forward-on-efforts-to-meet-rising-data-center-load/
- https://www.utilitydive.com/news/data-centers-pjm-capacity-auction/808951/
- https://ieefa.org/resources/projected-data-center-growth-spurs-pjm-capacity-prices-factor-10
- https://insidelines.pjm.com/pjm-auction-procures-134479-mw-of-generation-resources/
- https://www.integrityenergy.com/resources/about-us/news-media/pjm-announces-expensive-energy-changes-in-2026/
- https://blogs.constellation.com/energy-management/understanding-the-2026-27-pjm-bra-capacity-auction-results/
- https://www.pjm.com/-/media/DotCom/about-pjm/newsroom/2025-releases/20251217-pjm-auction-procures-134479-mw-of-generation-resources.pdf
- https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/data-centers/pjm-needs-flexible-data-centers
- https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2025/12/17/cub-statement-capacity-market-prices-reflect-need-for-data-center-reform/
