PJM capacity prices jump as data-center load collides with retirements
The capacity market finally noticed the GPUs.
High-voltage transmission lines
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — PJM's capacity auction did what white papers could not: it printed a number large enough to get CFOs on a call. Data-center load, delayed transmission, and scheduled retirements arrived in the same season.
Developers said the print will pull some gas peakers and life-extensions over the line. It will also make some AI campus pro formas look less clever than they did when power was treated as a utility footnote.
This is how an internet story becomes a rate-base story. Customers in the mid-Atlantic will see it on bills. Hyperscalers will see it in IRR.
David Chen
Energy and Infrastructure Correspondent
Covers power markets, nuclear restarts, and the grid constraints around AI campuses.