PJM members held an advisory vote on 12 different plans to handle the data center boom this week…and rejected every single one. (Heatmap)
The gridlock: Proposals ranged from forcing tech companies to bring their own power to voluntary shut-off deals, but the conflicting interests of utilities, tech giants, and environmentalists resulted in a stalemate.
The price tag: The meter is running—PJM’s independent market monitor estimates that securing capacity for all this new data center load is already adding over $16B to customer bills.
Next steps: Solo mission. PJM’s Board will craft and submit a unilateral solution to federal regulators by the end of the year.