PJM Board Files FERC Proposals to Manage Data Center Power Demand
PJM Interconnection’s Board of Managers directed two regulatory proposals be filed with FERC on Monday, T&D World reports, as the nation’s largest grid operator moves to address rising power demand from data centers across its 13-state territory. The first filing, a Reliability Backstop Procurement, would let third-party suppliers negotiate power deals directly with data centers or compete in a centralized backstop auction, with a one-time procurement window running September 30 through October 21 and results due in early December. Accepted supply offers would be capped at $555/MW-day. The second filing, a Connect and Manage framework, would give PJM a “pause button” to temporarily curtail data center power consumption during capacity shortages, protecting service to the 67 million people PJM serves. PJM says new large-load requests could add 70 GW of demand by 2038, while about 15 GW of generation has retired since 2022. The grid operator’s most recent capacity auction for the 2028/2029 delivery year came up 6.8 GW short of its reliability requirement.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Electrical and substation contractors working in PJM’s 13-state footprint (Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, North Carolina, West Virginia, six additional Midwest states, and Washington, D.C.) should expect interconnection timelines for data center projects to shift once FERC rules on the September 30 to October 21 procurement window and the new Large Load Registry, which will track sites drawing at least 50 MW within a one-mile radius.
- Firms bidding on hyperscaler-adjacent infrastructure, like the Google-funded Voltus virtual power plant deploying up to 100 MW of distributed energy resources under a three-year agreement, should watch for similar bring-your-own-capacity deals as a near-term work source outside PJM’s traditional generation queue.
- Subs tied to new large-load interconnections starting with the 2029/2030 planning cycle should confirm with clients how curtailment risk under the proposed “pause button” could affect project financing or phased construction schedules before committing crews to long-lead procurement.
