PJM Interconnection tells data centers to bring their own power or face blackouts

The largest power grid in the US just told data centers something they probably didn’t want to hear: if you want to consume massive amounts of electricity, you’d better generate it yourself. PJM Interconnection, which manages the electric grid across 13 states and the District of Columbia, serving roughly 65 million people, has rolled out a set of reforms designed to stop data centers from dumping their enormous energy costs onto everyday consumers. The plan, outlined in a January 16, 2026 directive from PJM’s Board, essentially creates a two-tier system: bring your own generation capacity, or accept the very real risk that your power gets cut during shortages. The numbers behind the panic Capacity auction prices have gone parabolic. In the 2024/2025 auction, prices sat at $28.92 per megawatt-day. For the 2026/2027 cycle, that figure exploded to $329.17 per megawatt-day. That’s more than a 10x increase in just two years. AI-linked data centers are consuming electricity at a pace that grid planners never anticipated. These facilities are projected to pile tens of billions of dollars in additional system costs onto PJM’s network through the late 2020s. Without intervention, those cos...