America's largest grid wants to cut power to new data centers first during shortages — 50MW-plus data centers must bring their own electricity generation to avoid shutoffs
PJM Interconnection has asked federal regulators to approve rules that would cut power to new data centers ahead of households during supply shortages.
PJM Interconnection, serving 67 million across 13 states and D.C., has asked federal regulators for approval to cut power to new data centers before households during energy shortages, according to Reuters. The request follows two failed capacity auctions, and PJM's board predicts roughly 70 GW of new large loads by 2038 against a 15 GW decrease in generation since 2022.
This filing comes after PJM's board observed a 75.5% rise in regional power costs, directly tied to data center demand. The proposed Interim Resource Adequacy Service would target new loads of 50 MW or more at a single site without their own generation or supply by June 1, 2027. These facilities would be curtailed before PJM implements Pre-Emergency Load Management programs.
Affected data centers would receive compensation at a FERC-approved hourly rate, set at 50% of the penalty rate PJM pays demand-response resources during emergencies. However, PJM cannot directly curtail individual sites and needs utilities and state governments to execute the reductions. The registry data will be shared with states to establish load-shedding priorities.
Virginia, home to the world's largest data center cluster, has already mandated operators to fund their dedicated grid infrastructure.
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