The governors of states in the PJM Interconnection recently announced that they will join together to host a one-day technical conference in Philadelphia on Sept. 23 to explore options to protect electricity consumers in their states.
The event will look into possible solutions to the current challenges states face within the 13-state regional transmission organization, including electricity affordability, how the regional grid operator makes decisions, and maintaining electricity system reliability in the face of rising demand.
Most New Jerseyans saw the cost of their electricity soar in June because of continuous stress on electric grids amid growing demand, particularly by data centers.
The technical conference will feature speakers who will be invited to join topical panels based on their written statements submitted in advance. Further details are set to be released in the coming weeks, including an agenda and the questions each panel will seek to address. The event will be open to anyone who registers in advance.
The announcement of the technical conference follows the open letter sent July 16 to the PJM Board of Managers by nine of the region’s governors across party lines, requesting fundamental changes and new leadership. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine filed a follow-up letter of support with PJM.
PJM President and CEO Manu Asthana, under fire by Democratic governors for failing to address the energy crisis, announced in April that he will step down at the end of 2025. He will remain as a senior adviser to the PJM board through June 2026.
“Without the leadership of governors and the hard-fought temporary capacity market cap, inclusion of reliability-must-run units, and other reforms recommended by the states, PJM’s utility cost crisis would have grown exponentially,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “Today I’m announcing, alongside every governor in PJM, that we will host a technical conference to explore options to protect electricity consumers and restore confidence in PJM’s ability to meet the many affordability and governance challenges of this moment.”
The technical conference will take place on Sept. 23 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PJM’s territory covers 13 states including New Jersey and the District of Columbia, as well as the biggest concentration of data centers in the world, including Virginia’s “Data Center Alley.”
Prices out of the biggest U.S. power auction staged by PJM cleared at $329.17 a megawatt-day, about 22% higher than last year’s record-high levels as electricity demand continues to outstrip supply, according to results released by the organization on July 22.
A spike in U.S. power consumption driven by data center demand has collided with a decade of shrinking power supplies in PJM, North America’s largest power grid operator. That has led to a supply shortfall that has driven up prices in the capacity auction. The capacity auction determines what power plant owners in the grid network will be paid to guarantee that they produce electricity during times of extreme demand to help avoid blackouts.
