DOE Urges PJM to Protect Ratepayers From Data Center Costs

The U.S. Department of Energy urged PJM Interconnection to revise its reliability backstop procurement plan to prevent the costs of serving data centers and other large electric loads from being shifted to existing utility ratepayers. In a statement filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the department supported a previous finding that PJM's cost-allocation framework may be "unjust and unreasonable."

The department emphasized that under the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, large electric energy loads must fund the generation and infrastructure they require rather than American households or other business ratepayers.

PJM, which manages the grid across 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states and the District of Columbia, intends to acquire 6.8 GW of new capacity to address shortfalls driven by data center demand. To avoid a five-month hearing process, PJM plans to hold a special Members Committee meeting on October 22 and file a revised proposal with the commission by October 29.