PJM Interconnection, the largest Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) in the US, has reported a peak load growth of 32GW from 2024 to 2030, with 30GW from data centers.

The RTO revealed the figures in its latest long-term load forecast, noting that the demand is presenting both opportunities and challenges for the local grid due to the need for new generation assets to support the projected load growth.

While the RTO has been making progress and expects to clear its queued generation projects - totaling 140GW - over the next six to eighteen months, it accepts that many of the projects are being hampered by outside factors. Issues of note include siting and permitting challenges, supply chain backlogs, and speculative applications.

According to the RTO, in a recent survey of PJM members and stakeholders, there was a growing consensus that finding solutions to the potential resource adequacy challenges posed by rapidly interconnecting large loads should be one of PJM’s highest priorities.

As a result, it has implemented the Critical Issue Fast Path (CIFP) accelerated stakeholder process mechanism to pursue stakeholder consensus that would inform a PJM Board decision on a potential FERC filing on this subject, targeted for December 2025.

The process aims to explore market-based and reliability-focused measures, potentially adjusting capacity market rules, using demand response, and enabling customers to bring on new generation. The measures must include clear criteria for activation, consider interconnection rule changes, coordinate with states and utilities, and be ready for implementation in time for the 2028/2029 capacity auction.

PJM operates the electric transmission system and wholesale electricity market for 13 states and the District of Columbia. The states include some of the largest data center markets in the world, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Ratepayers across its service area have begun to face significant price hikes due to the growth of data centers. In the RTO’s latest capacity auction, wholesale electric capacity grew 22 percent compared to last year, leading to bills potentially increasing by more than five percent over the next year. Ohio has been particularly impacted, with average residential bills in the city of Columbus set to increase by $27 a month.

As a result, there is an increasing concern amongst ratepayers and legislators that data centers and their huge energy demand are beginning to have an adverse impact on energy prices. To alleviate these concerns, a number of states have moved to introduce measures to protect ratepayers from bearing the cost of transmission upgrades and power generation developments.

In Ohio, regulators voted to approve a settlement that would require new data center customers to pay for a minimum of 85 percent of the energy they say they need each month to cover the cost of infrastructure.

In Pennsylvania, Senator Katie Muth, a Democrat, said she was preparing to introduce the Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act, which would establish a separate rate class for high-load data centers and require them to cover utility infrastructure costs.