FERC chair slams PJM ‘mess’ as country’s largest grid operator delays power auction

PJM, the grid operator serving 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states plus Washington, D.C., has delayed a planned power auction after federal regulators only partly approved its plan. PJM had wanted to buy extra electricity capacity to cover a shortfall largely blamed on surging demand from data centers, with offers due to start September 30. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stepped in a day earlier and rejected key pieces of the proposal, including how costs would be divided among utilities and their customers, rules for what happens if a utility leaves PJM, and how much money certain power buyers would have to set aside as collateral. FERC's chair called the last-minute filing a "mess" and said the commission would not approve a rushed plan with "billion-dollar implications for consumers."

For homeowners in PJM's territory, this dispute is about who ultimately pays for new power supplies needed to keep the lights on as data centers strain the grid. FERC's concern is that PJM's original cost-allocation plan might have unfairly spread those costs across customers rather than targeting the parties actually driving demand. Regulators suggested using updated, more accurate forecasts of where load growth is happening to assign costs more fairly. No new auction date has been set yet, and PJM says it is working on revisions. The outcome could eventually affect electricity rates in the region, though nothing about your bill changes immediately.