The eastern power grid PJM Interconnection is finishing a plan for managing data center connections, giving increased priority to tech industry projects that line up their own electricity generation instead of taking power off the grid.
PJM officials said another priority is to spell out exactly how data centers would be treated during rolling blackouts, anticipating public reaction if neighborhoods lose power but computer clusters owned by hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, Microsoft or Meta keep running.
Wholesale electricity prices have ramped up sharply for the 67 million people served by PJM’s network, which include the voters in New Jersey and Virginia who elected Democratic gubernatorial candidates promising to rein in utility bill increases. A bipartisan group of PJM governors has demanded PJM do more to control power bills. House and Senate Democrats added their protest in a letter Thursday, calling for more action from PJM.
The alliance of state leaders led by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro are joining with the tech industry’s Data Center Coalition and Exelon to press for their version of the plan before PJM officials. Meanwhile, PJM is rushing to finalize a proposal to send to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before year’s end. The grid operator serving much of the mid-Atlantic region seeks to have the policy in place for the 2028-2029 power delivery year.
