As AI data centers quickly crop up across the region, Maryland's fragile power grid is struggling to keep up. (The Sentinel)
Average residential electricity prices jumped ~18% between 2024 and 2025. It doesn’t help that PJM capacity costs hit a record $16B for the 2026–27 auction. An independent analysis found these hikes mostly stem from existing and projected data center loads on the grid.
Maryland imports 40% of its power and faces an eight-year interconnection backlog, so two Baltimore-area fossil fuel plants slated for 2025 retirement must run until 2029 to prevent blackouts. The delay? It’ll cost consumers $629M.
What comes next: Utilities are pushing a $424M transmission upgrade designed to make it easier to import electricity from outside the state.