FERC commissioners on Thursday, April 16, sharply criticized PJM Interconnection for scheduling a one-time (only) reliability backstop auction for March 2027, even after the White House, led by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, asked PJM to hold a special auction to avert a projected electricity shortfall by September 2026. The request was part of a broader push for national standards to speed data center interconnection as AI server demand drives rapid load growth, as reported by E&E News. The criticism follows signs of strain in PJM’s capacity market, including a recent auction that fell short of the 20 percent reserve margin and produced record-high prices. PJM says a revised load forecast and stricter vetting of large loads justify the later timeline, but FERC commissioners say the delay risks a resource adequacy gap and undermines efforts to build supply alongside rising demand to keep power affordable and reliable.
In his excellent coverage, "FERC presses on with closely watched data center rulemaking," E&E News' Francisco Camacho noted in an April 17 piece: "In an order, the commission also sent PJM back to the drawing board on developing a framework for co-locating power plants with data centers and other large loads. In December, FERC issued a landmark order outlining guidelines for how the grid operator should build a responsible system. Co-location supporters argue it cuts down on complex transmission and distribution wires, but some worry it would give the co-located customer priority over others on the grid. PJM has submitted two compliance filings in response to FERC’s December order, but the commission was not wholly satisfied with the first filing. The commission found, among other things, that PJM did not properly adopt FERC’s definition of “co-located load.” PJM was trying to use ownership of facilities, rather than the commission’s physical-location test, to decide which side of the line a co-located customer sat on and what transmission service obligations would follow. FERC partially accepted and partially rejected PJM’s compliance filing for FERC Order 2023. The order directs grid operators to reform their queue in which proposed power plants are connected to the electrical grid. PJM’s queue has a yearslong backlog, and the grid operator temporarily closed it to new entrants in 2022."
Further, the piece noted "In addition, Republican FERC Commissioner David LaCerte expressed deep frustration with PJM during the April meeting....The situation is dire. It’s growingly dire,” LaCerte said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s serious conversation about one or more major utilities or transmission companies talking about maybe joining a different RTO or going it alone.”
This serious concern expressed by FERC hearkens back at least to late 2024, when governors of several PJM states, led by Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, filed a complaint with FERC asserting that PJM’s capacity market design has failed to ensure “just and reasonable rates” and instead, led to extreme price volatility that imposed excessive costs on consumers without guaranteeing sufficient new generation.
At the time, a POWER article bylined by the magazine's Sonal Patel also noted Shapiro’s blatant warning, little short of a threat, to PJM at the end of February (2025): “The governor explicitly suggested that if PJM cannot adapt, Pennsylvania may seek an independent energy strategy. 'We are exploring all options here in Pennsylvania, including removing ourselves from PJM, going it alone and determining if that is a better course for both consumer pricing and power generation in our common market,'” he said.
Following the January settlement, which was approved by FERC in April a year ago, the Governor acknowledged that “PJM did the right thing by listening to my concerns and coming to the table to find a path forward that will save  Pennsylvanians billions of dollars on their electricity bills.” However, that settlement only referred to the cap imposed on BRA capacity prices, which rose 10-fold over just the last two auctions, and, absent the "Shapiro-imposed cap," the system marginal clearing price would have jumped to $388.57/MW-day, $60 higher than the actual clearing price, per PJM's own simulation. PJM'S data center issues still loom large, and every attempt by PJM to put forth proposals that deal effective with ratepayer costs (spiraling out of control while benefiting the techbros), resource adequacy shortfalls, fossil retirements without replacement, a clogged queue, and of course FERC and PJM stakeholder interests, seems to fall flat.
Unfortunately, little has changed in Valley Forge, still grasping at straws. # # #