PJM Auction Signals Possible Electric Shortage For Peak Times

PJM Interconnection, LLC, the nation’s largest electricity transmission grid, recently wrapped up its power capacity auction for 2028. West Virginia is part of the PJM system. 

Prices in the auction once again hit a cap that was first put in place after Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro sued PJM for a spike in costs. The amount of power secured falls short of what could be needed to avoid blackouts in extreme conditions as power companies decline to produce power at lower rates. 

At the same time, the Public Service Commission of West Virginia on Monday opened a general investigation into rules it is proposing to govern the regulation of electric generating capacity requirements. 

Demand for electricity in West Virginia and surrounding states is growing faster than supply, putting pressure on prices. 

Robert Routh, with the Natural Resources Defense Council, says the demand is mainly driven by the expected growth of data centers. A solution could be to exclude these customers from the general auction. 

“They should be separated out because of their unique characteristics and the extent to which they are driving prices up for everybody else,” Routh said. “They should be removed from the capacity market altogether.”  

PJM says it has taken several steps to prepare for the new demand, including trying to help large load customers, like data centers, buy their own power directly from generators. 

House Bill 2014, passed by the legislature in 2025, encouraged the development of data centers and took much of the control away from local governments, putting it in the hands of a state office. The law also directed the PSC to evaluate capacity auctions.  

PJM seeks to coordinate the flow and amounts of electricity available to its member states through its auctions. HB2014 said the commission should encourage all electric generators to participate in each capacity auction for the benefit of state ratepayers.  

Lawmakers also wanted the commission to conduct a review of each generating unit’s current consumer economic dispatch.  

“Electric utilities shall be prepared to maximize the production of electricity from their generating units when such self-generation will result in reduced energy costs for West Virginia ratepayers,” the legislation said. 

“The commission shall require utilities to maintain their thermal baseload generating units in a manner to allow them to be able to self-generate and achieve at least a sixty-nine percent capacity factor,” it said. 

Interested parties may review the order instituting the rulemaking online.  

More information on this case can be found on the PSC website: www.psc.state.wv.us. Click on “Case Information” and access Case No. 26-0633-E-GI. 

WESA’s Rachel McDevitt contributed to this report.