Washington Urges PJM Emergency Auction to Boost Power
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Washington officials urged PJM Interconnection Friday to hold an emergency auction to accelerate construction of more than $15 billion in baseload generation to meet rising demand from data centers and reduce reliability risks and electricity price pressures across the mid-Atlantic. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined governors urging the regional operator to require tech firms to help finance capacity. Reuters reported PJM will announce a plan. Officials tied the move to artificial intelligence growth stretching grid resources and sought to shift costs toward data centers rather than consumers. Based on 6 articles reviewed and supporting research.
More context
Timeline
- 1. Administration-era statements cited a National Energy Emergency and criticized prior capacity retirements.
- 2. Over recent years PJM saw retirements and changes that officials say removed nearly 17 gigawatts of baseload capacity.
- 3. Rapid AI and data center expansion increased electric demand and prompted reliability concerns across the mid-Atlantic.
- 4. On Jan. 16/this week the White House and bipartisan governors urged PJM to hold an emergency auction for new generation.
- 5. PJM indicated it will unveil its own response plan following the federal and state requests.
Sources
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