Overview
- Led by Sen. Ed Markey, Democrats urged FERC Chair Laura Swett to take immediate action to prevent “unjust or unreasonable” increases and to scrutinize how transmission costs tied to new data center load are allocated.
- Independent monitor Monitoring Analytics reported that data center demand accounted for $9.3 billion, or 63%, of PJM’s 2025–2026 capacity bill after auction costs jumped from $2.2 billion to $14.7 billion, with the latest auction rising to $16.1 billion.
- Electricity prices rose 6% nationwide year over year in August, but increases were sharper in several PJM states with heavy data center growth, including 13% in Virginia, 16% in Illinois, and 12% in Ohio.
- The Associated Press reported growing concern that demand forecasts include speculative or duplicative projects, prompting FERC inquiries into forecasting practices and a new Texas law requiring developer disclosures and proof of commercial readiness.
- A new Next 10/UC Riverside report estimates California data centers nearly doubled electricity use and emissions from 2019 to 2023 and could reach about 25 terawatt-hours by 2028, while calling for standardized reporting that industry groups say should reflect limited diesel generator use.