According to a report released yesterday by Monitoring Analytics—an independent market monitor acting as a watchdog for the PJM grid—the largest U.S. electrical grid, the PJM Interconnection, experienced electricity prices that nearly doubled over the past year. The real offender? Data centers.. The wholesale price for one megawatt-hour of electricity has climbed to $136.53, compared with $77.78 at the same time last year. Crain’s Chicago Business was the first to break the news of the spike. Monitoring Analytics blamed data centers and PJM for failing to manage their rapidly growing electricity demand. The market monitor was blunt in its criticism. “The price effects felt by customers have been substantial and cannot be undone,” Monitoring Analytics wrote. The near-term price impacts will be significantly greater unless data center load-related issues are resolved promptly. PJM stands out as an easy target for that kind of criticism.
Power prices are up 76% on America’s biggest grid, and a watchdog is pointing fingers
- by stefan