Overview
- An independent PJM watchdog reported that data center demand accounted for $9.3 billion, or 63%, of the 2025–2026 capacity bill, with total auction costs rising to $16.1 billion that flow through to customer bills.
- Senate Democrats led by Ed Markey asked FERC to prevent unjust rate hikes, reject transmission filings that spread data‑center costs broadly, and probe utilities or grid operators with rates deemed unjust or preferential.
- States and regulators are demanding proof that proposed data centers will be built, as the AP details concerns over speculative or duplicative projects; Texas enacted disclosure and commercial‑readiness requirements to improve forecasts.
- A Next 10/UC Riverside report estimated California data centers nearly doubled electricity use and emissions from 2019 to 2023 and could grow sharply by 2028, while the authors stressed large data gaps and the industry disputed diesel‑generator impacts.
- Electric bills climbed faster than average in several PJM states with many data centers — up 13% in Virginia, 16% in Illinois, and 12% in Ohio — and DOE estimates data centers used about 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023, potentially reaching 6.7% to 12% by 2028.