Overview
- At a Friday event, the administration and bipartisan governors pressed PJM to run a special auction offering 15-year contracts for new generation that tech firms would finance, with officials estimating roughly $15 billion in projects.
- The plan encourages extending caps on what existing power plants can charge in PJM to curb bill increases for consumers.
- PJM said it was not invited to the White House event and is reviewing the nonbinding statement of principles.
- Backers floated the possibility of holding the auction as soon as September, though PJM’s approval and potential regulatory review would be required.
- Rising data center demand has driven record PJM capacity prices and reliability concerns, with Google citing interconnection delays of up to 12 years and testing colocation next to power plants.