AI data centers drive PJM's capacity auction to a record $325 per megawatt-day

PJM Interconnection's latest capacity auction cleared at a record $325 per megawatt-day, with AI data-center demand adding roughly $6.3B of a $16.4B year-over-year cost increase now passed to mid-Atlantic ratepayers despite Pennsylvania-negotiated price caps. Grid capacity has become a direct cost of the AI buildout, and the political backlash is forming — New York's Kathy Hochul has paused large-scale data-center approvals by executive order.

Source: axios.com ↗