PJM Interconnection has secured enough electricity generation and demand response resources to serve more than 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia during the 2028-2029 delivery year, but officials say electricity demand continues to outpace supply.
Results of the regional grid operator’s latest Base Residual Auction showed 138,318 megawatts of unforced capacity generation and demand response were procured. An additional 10,864 megawatts were secured through the Fixed Resource Requirement program, bringing the total available capacity to 149,182 megawatts.
Despite the procurement, PJM said available capacity remains 6,831 megawatts short of the amount needed to meet its one-event-in-10-year reliability standard. Officials said the shortfall was expected and follows a similar shortage in last year’s auction.
PJM plans to seek approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct a special Reliability Backstop Procurement in September to address the near-term supply gap.
The auction cleared at the FERC-approved price cap of $325 per megawatt-day, a 2.5% decrease from the previous auction’s cap of $333.44 per megawatt-day. PJM said the total value of the cleared supply is $16.4 billion, though the organization noted that figure does not represent the total cost ultimately paid by electricity customers because many utilities secure power through self-supply or bilateral contracts.
“These auction results show that demand for electricity continues to grow faster than electricity supply,” said David Mills, PJM president and CEO. “At the same time, PJM recognizes how this supply-and-demand imbalance impacts the reliability of the system and costs for consumers. We are working with government and industry leaders on multiple fronts to restore that balance by bringing on new generation as fast as possible and managing the growth of new load on the grid.”
PJM said forecasted peak electricity demand for the 2028-2029 delivery year increased by approximately 2,000 megawatts compared with the previous year’s auction, driven in part by the continued growth of large data centers.
The organization is pursuing several initiatives to address increasing demand, including streamlining the generation interconnection process, developing new frameworks for connecting large electricity users such as data centers, maximizing existing generation resources and advancing market reforms.
According to the auction results, the region’s electricity supply mix consists of 46% natural gas, 20% nuclear, 18% coal, 5% demand response, 4% hydroelectric, 2% wind, 2% oil and 1% solar. Natural gas capacity increased by more than 5,600 megawatts, while coal capacity declined by nearly 3,000 megawatts because of retirements and conversions to natural gas.
PJM said the auction also cleared 525 megawatts of new generation and generation upgrades, with total cleared capacity increasing by 3,733 megawatts compared with the previous auction.
“All of these initiatives are critical to keeping the lights on while allowing states to protect their everyday electricity customers,” Mills said. “PJM will continue to collaborate with our state and federal partners and take decisive action to match electricity supply to the demands of the growing economy.”
PJM Interconnection operates the high-voltage electric grid serving all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
