PJM’s capacity challenge is increasingly about more than simply finding enough megawatts.
The grid operator recently filed an amended Reliability Backstop Procurement proposal with FERC aimed at addressing an approximately 6,800 MW capacity shortfall for the 2028/2029 delivery year.
PJM says the gap reflects electricity demand from large loads growing faster than new generation is being added. Its amended proposal also changes how costs would be allocated, with the intention of assigning the incremental cost of new capacity to the large loads driving the need for it.
That distinction matters.
Reliability and cost causation are converging
For years, resource adequacy discussions could be separated into two basic questions:
Does the system have enough capacity?
How much will that capacity cost?
Large-load growth is creating a third:
Who caused the need for the additional capacity, and who should pay for it?
That question is becoming central as data centers and other large electricity users enter regional planning forecasts.
PJM’s proposal is significant because it attempts to connect capacity procurement more directly with the loads driving the shortfall.
Commercial customers should distinguish market layers
This is also a useful reminder that a commercial electricity bill contains several different cost components.
Wholesale energy prices are not capacity prices.
Capacity is not transmission.
Transmission is not distribution.
And none of those components should automatically be treated as equivalent to a competitive supplier’s energy quote.
A business may have a fixed supply agreement while remaining exposed to certain regulated, capacity-related, transmission, or utility charges depending on its contract and tariff structure.
The broader issue
The fundamental challenge is timing.
Large loads can materialize faster than new generation and major transmission projects can be developed.
PJM’s backstop proposal is one attempt to bridge that gap.
But the more important policy question may be whether regional markets can consistently assign costs to the customers creating new system needs without undermining reliability or shifting those costs onto existing customers.
That debate is likely to become increasingly important across organized power markets as large-load growth continues.
Source: PJM Interconnection, Reliability Backstop Procurement filing, October 29, 2026.