Lawmakers and Advocates Demand Reforms from PJM, Regional Grid Manager

Outside of PJM’s annual meeting, speakers called out grid mismanagement, rising electricity costs, and failure to bring cheaper clean energy online

 

BALTIMORE, MD — PJM Interconnection (PJM), the regional grid operator for Maryland and a dozen other states, is holding its annual conference at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront from May 11 to 13. State lawmakers and advocates held a press conference today on the sidewalk outside the hotel to call out PJM’s mismanagement of the grid, which has led directly to surging energy prices. 

“Maryland families are already seeing higher electric bills, driven in part by rapid growth in energy-hungry data centers. Ratepayers shouldn’t have to compete with global corporations for power,” said Senator Katie Fry Hester (D-Maryland). 

“Pennsylvania produces the energy that powers much of the PJM region, yet our residents should not be asked to subsidize the explosive growth of private data centers,” said Rep. Danielle Otten (D-Pennsylvania). “We need fairness and accountability — making sure new industrial demand brings new supply with it. Protecting reliability while keeping electricity affordable is essential for our households, our manufacturers, and our economic future.” 

“Clean energy is chomping at the bit to lower energy bills, but PJM is artificially slowing clean energy from coming onto the grid in order to benefit fossil fuel interests,” said Delegate Lorig Charkoudian (D-Maryland).  

“PJM needs to more swiftly and efficiently greenlight clean energy projects and hold data centers responsible for paying for their own energy needs instead of further burdening already stretched ratepayers,” said Senator Shelly Hettleman (D-Maryland) 

PJM’s policies are delaying lower-cost clean energy projects while keeping more expensive power sources on the system – contributing to higher electricity bills across the region. A recent analysis found that if PJM were to allow more clean energy to connect to the grid, it would save each of its customers $500 a year in reduced energy bills. Advocates shared recent cost savings from clean energy in other regions, such as Massachusetts’ recent announcement that residents are saving $1.4 billion over the next 20 years with the completion of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project. Meanwhile, PJM is forcing ratepayers to pay coal plants just south of Baltimore hundreds of millions of dollars to stay open, when cleaner alternatives would be less expensive. 

“PJM is failing us not by accident, but by design. It has been co-opted by fossil fuel energy generators and utilities and is quickly being overtaken by Big Tech and their data center companies as well. All the while, PJM’s members have been raking in massive revenues due to energy market dysfunction. PJM won’t help energy bills decrease until there is meaningful governance reform within PJM. And, they missed an opportunity by selecting their Board Chair and interim President as their new President and CEO just last month,” said Jake Schwartz, Federal Campaigns Manager for Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

“If PJM were truly focused on lowering soaring energy bills, the solution would be clear: invest in clean energy. Instead, PJM continues to prioritize energy sources that are neither clean nor affordable, while Marylanders face growing pressure from rising utility, fuel, and healthcare costs. It’s time for PJM to listen to its customers and deliver the reliable, affordable clean energy Maryland families deserve,” said Rebecca Rehr, Director of Climate Policy & Justice for Maryland LCV.  

Find a recording of today’s press conference here.

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PJM Fails to Require Data Centers to Bring Their Own Generation, Launches New Process to Build Gas Plants

Lawmakers and other stakeholders sought to enact new policies that would have driven down power prices, but PJM Board of Managers did not adopt them

WASHINGTON, D.C. — PJM Interconnection, the entity that manages the regional grid serving Maryland and other states, today issued their long-awaited position on the Critical Issue Fast Path (CIFP) aimed at addressing rapidly growing energy needs of new data centers. This move follows a November stakeholder vote that failed to gain consensus as to any one CIFP proposal, a December capacity auction in which PJM, for the first time, failed to meet its grid reliability reserve target, and today’s announcement from the White House and the governors of the 13 states PJM serves.

PJM’s recommendation comes as data centers look to add 30 gigawatts of energy demand to the grid in the coming years. Without any protections, this new data center load could cost the average ratepayer an additional $70 a month. On November 19th, 2025 PJM members voted on different potential solutions to the costs created by data centers. At that voting session, the comprehensive proposal that got the most votes was one that would not allow data centers to connect to the PJM grid until there is sufficient generation to provide electricity to those facilities. This Bring Your Own Generation (BYOG) approach is broadly supported by stakeholders. Advocates from across the PJM region recently sent a letter to PJM urging support for a Bring Your Own Generation requirement. 

However, in their CIFP proposal, PJM rejected BYOG proposals that would have ensured new data center load is matched with equivalent new generation. Instead PJM is creating a new expedited interconnection process that will be biased towards fossil fuels. 

“Under PJM’s proposal there are still not sufficient protections for ratepayers,” said Del. Lorig Charkoudian, vice chair of the House Economic Matters Committee. “The primary fast tracking of energy PJM is doing is biased towards fossil gas. Given that solar and batteries are the fastest, cheapest way to provide new generation, this is another example of PJM serving for-profit energy companies and not families who can’t afford their energy bill.” 

PJM’s Board of Managers officially recommended that: 

  • PJM launch a Reliability Backstop Procurement, which will allow new gas plants to skip the line and get connected to the grid before clean energy projects which have been waiting to connect for years.
  • Improve PJM’s process of projecting demand growth.
  • Allow data centers to connect to the grid more quickly if they choose to bring their own generation.
  • Data centers that do not bring their own generation will lose access to the grid first in a scenario where the grid can not meet the demand of the grid
  • Review the reliability pricing model that PJM currently uses.
  • PJM request feedback on extending the capacity auction price cap for the next two years. 

While some of these proposals have the potential to partially lower the cost spikes associated with data centers, the proposal fails to take the two most necessary actions: enacting firm requirements that data centers bring their own generation and allowing clean energy to connect to the grid faster. 

“The fastest way to reduce energy costs is to build the clean energy waiting on PJM’s approval to connect to the grid. However, instead of deploying the clean energy projects already in their queue, PJM is beginning a new process that will favor fossil fuel power plants,” said Quentin Scott, Federal Director at Chesapeake Climate Action Network. 

The proposal put forward by the PJM Board of Managers will now be reviewed by PJM stakeholders before being sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for final review. 

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC and beyond.

Gridlocked

LTE by Jake Schwartz, CCAN Federal Campaigns Manager, initially published in the Philadelphia Inquirer

The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, the powerful but little-known operator of our region’s electric grid, is currently tasked with managing the increased energy demand from data centers. Just last month, PJM’s own watchdog filed a complaint saying it will not be able to manage all of the proposed data centers without restrictions.
Later this month, PJM’s board will vote to decide how and whether to accept these electricity-hungry data centers into our grid, and what (if any) restrictions will be put in place. One option is that the Big Tech companies behind many of these sites could be asked to dial back their power use for a few dozen hours a year.

This would mean that at the rare moments when our grid is peaking, data centers could slow down, preventing blackouts for everyday ratepayers. It would also save Pennsylvanians on our energy bills if fewer of these expensive “peaker” plants had to be built. Finally, this proposal would be better for our lungs and the planet, as the energy sources that data centers bring online are usually gas plants. PJM should prioritize people over data centers and decide on some restrictions before it welcomes them to our grid.

LTE by Jake Schwartz, CCAN Federal Campaigns Manager, initially published in the Philadelphia Inquirer

About the author: Jake Schwartz (he/him) is the Federal Campaigns Manager at CCAN. Jake grew up in Philly (Go Birds!) and has organized on environmental and electoral campaigns across the country, from Oregon to Indiana. His career in climate organizing began at Green Corps, an environmental advocacy fellowship, where he worked on local, state, and federal campaigns.

Most recently, he was on the Harris-Walz campaign where he helped run the Delegate Operations and then Climate Engagement teams. Outside of work, you can find him running or biking in Rock Creek Park or reading at Meridian Hill Park.

photo of the author of the blog, Jake Schwartz