PJM Interconnection LLC

The largest grid operator in North America, coordinating electricity across 13 states and the District of Columbia. - Piloting AI for interconnection queue management

America's power grid was designed for a world that no longer exists. Built largely in the mid-twentieth century, it now faces a collision: electricity demand is rising at the fastest rate in decades, driven by data centers, electric vehicles, and manufacturing reshoring, while the queue of new power projects waiting to connect stretches past 2.6 terawatts—more than twice the grid's current installed capacity. New transmission lines take a decade or more to build. The math doesn't work.

Updated Feb 18

PJM is the regional transmission organization coordinating wholesale electricity markets and grid operations for all or parts of 13 U.S. states and D.C., serving about 65 million people and operating 185 GW of generating capacity. - Facing unprecedented capacity shortfall and reliability crisis driven by data center demand

Since late 2022, U.S. regulators and utilities have warned that a new class of digital infrastructure—AI-optimized data centers—could reshape national power demand, ending an era of flat electricity consumption and forcing a rapid buildout of generation and transmission. By early 2026, those warnings have crystallized into concrete challenges: PJM Interconnection's December 2025 capacity auction hit the $333.44/MW-day price cap and failed to meet reliability requirements for the first time in its history, with data centers accounting for $6.5 billion—or 40%—of the auction's $16.4 billion in costs. Regional grid operators now project U.S. data center electricity consumption will grow from 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024 to over 400 TWh by 2030, while the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates data centres globally could more than double their electricity use to approximately 945 TWh in the same timeframe, with AI-optimized servers as the main driver.

Updated Jan 27

The largest grid operator in North America, serving 65 million people across 13 states and managing an interconnection queue of 170,000+ MW of proposed generation. - Managing rapid demand growth and generation queue

West Virginia has no base-load natural gas power plants online. That's about to change. Governor Patrick Morrisey announced that Calpine, a Constellation Energy subsidiary, will build a $1 billion, 500-megawatt gas plant in Marshall County—part of $4.2 billion in energy investments the state has attracted in just four weeks. The goal: transform a coal-dependent economy into what Morrisey calls 'the battery of the East Coast.'

Updated Jan 24

PJM operates the largest electric grid in North America, serving 65 million people across 13 states including Virginia's data center corridor. - Managing grid stress from data center expansion

For decades, American households have paid roughly the same share of electricity costs regardless of which industries were expanding. AI data centers have broken that arrangement. In 2025, regions with concentrated data center activity saw wholesale electricity prices rise as much as 267% over five years, with the PJM grid operator—serving 65 million people across 13 states—projecting $100 billion in extra consumer costs through 2033 unless something changes.

Updated Jan 13

Grid operator covering 13 states from Illinois to North Carolina, serving 65 million people. - Struggling to meet demand as capacity prices hit records

America's power grid is facing its biggest stress test in decades. Data centers running AI models consumed 183 terawatt-hours in 2024—enough to power Pakistan for a year—and that figure is expected to more than double by 2030. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are pouring $370 billion into new facilities, and the grid can't keep up.

Updated Dec 27, 2025