The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors are pushing to hold a power auction on the PJM Interconnection, America’s largest electricity market, with the aim of spurring large-scale construction of new power plants.
Lawmakers and tech companies building new data centers face growing anger from Americans over rising electricity rates
PJM operates the largest electricity grid in the US, spanning 13 states in the Midwest and Atlantic and including a concentration of data centers in Virginia. Governors from all states, including Democrats Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Wes Moore (D-MD), signed the statement released today, along with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. However, CNN says neither the White House nor governors can mandate an auction. And bloomberg It is reported that PJM was not invited to the announcement made today.
The Department of Energy (DOE) says data centers “should pay more for new generation than residential customers.” Specifically, it asks PJM to allocate costs for new infrastructure to data centers unless they bring their own power plants online or agree to reduce their energy use during supply shortages. According to DOE, the auction could generate $15 billion of new power generation.
While the Trump administration has pushed for the revival of coal, gas and nuclear power plants in the US, it has also worked to constrain the construction of wind and solar power plants that have become the fastest-growing sources of new electricity in recent years.
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