Shapiro threatens to pull Pennsylvania out of PJM over electricity prices

By Peter Behr | 01/15/2025 06:25 AM EST

The governor cites the regional grid’s “market failure” to control escalating prices as power demand rises.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a campaign event on Oct. 17, 2024, in Flint, Michigan.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a campaign event on Oct. 17, 2024, in Flint, Michigan. Carlos Osorio/AP

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is warning regional electricity grid operator PJM that the state will consider leaving the organization if it doesn’t do more to protect consumers against soaring power prices.

Shapiro’s letter marks a sharp escalation of his dispute with PJM, the largest U.S. wholesale power market and transmission coordinator, serving 65 million people from the Atlantic Seaboard to Chicago.

The risk of more power price escalation “threatens to undermine public confidence in PJM as an institution,” Shapiro said in his letter to Mark Takahashi, chair of PJM’s board of managers.

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In a statement Tuesday, PJM said, “We appreciate the governor’s letter and have reached out to his office to discuss next steps.”

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