Moore, other PJM Governors Push for Changes at the Nation’s Biggest Electric Grid

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) found himself in a rare position Friday: Joining forces with President Donald Trump’s (R) administration on energy policy.

Moore was one of 13 governors who signed an agreement with the Trump administration, pushing for PJM Interconnection, the operator of the nation’s largest electric grid, to bring $15 billion worth of new power online — with data center companies paying the tab.

Moore has been a critic of PJM, arguing that its policies delayed new clean energy projects, which got stuck in a backlogged queue waiting for approval, and then electricity demand skyrocketed because of power-hungry data centers.

“I have been crystal clear: We cannot build a 21st-century economy on an energy market that blocks new supply,” Moore said in a statement Friday. “This moment calls for urgency. Maryland families and businesses must be served by a reliable grid without shouldering the cost of sky-high energy bills.”

But PJM’s Board of Directors released its own data center plan later Friday.

That plan also initiated a “backstop procurement” for new energy. But PJM merely directed its staff to study assigning the costs of new energy to the jurisdictions, who could then pass those costs to the data center companies, such as Amazon and Google.

PJM’s plan also encourages — but doesn’t mandate — “bring your own generation,” wherein data centers could choose to bring new power onto the system on an expedited basis, to defray the possibility of being asked to reduce their power demand when the grid is strained.

“This decision is about how PJM integrates large new loads in a way that preserves reliability for customers while creating a predictable, transparent path for growth,” said David Mills, PJM Board Chair and Interim President and CEO, in a statement.

“This is not a yes/no to data centers,” Mills’ statement said. “This is, ‘How can we do this while keeping the lights on and recognizing the impact on consumers at the same time?’ We look forward to implementing, along with our stakeholders, these proposals to manage the phenomenal demand growth we are experiencing.”

PJM’s plan also includes changes to the way that the grid operator forecasts energy demand. Concerns had been raised that PJM’s projections were inflated, because companies looking to build data centers could be shopping the same data center proposal in more than one jurisdiction.

According to a news release from PJM, some of the items will require approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, while others can take place immediately.

Environmental groups argued Friday that PJM’s data center plan favors fossil fuels.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement that PJM’s decision protects “everyday families from blackouts” caused by data centers, but it falls short when it comes to new power generation.

PJM has created a “fast-track process that effectively excludes clean energy projects and gives special treatment to fossil fuel power plants built for data centers, allowing them to cut ahead of low-cost clean resources that have been waiting years to connect to the grid,” wrote Claire Lang-Ree, advocate for the Sustainable FERC Project at NRDC.

Maryland Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D- Montgomery) also chimed in, adding that PJM’s decision doesn’t provide sufficient protections for ratepayers.

“The primary fast-tracking of energy PJM is doing is biased towards fossil gas,” wrote Charkoudian, vice chair of the House Economic Matters Committee. “Given that solar and batteries are the fastest, cheapest way to provide new generation, this is another example of PJM serving for-profit energy companies and not families who can’t afford their energy bill.”

Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery) speaks during a rally for the Affordable Solar Act, which she is sponsoring, on Jan. 14, 2026, the first day of the Maryland General Assembly session. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)

A Trump spokesperson called the administration’s plan with the governors an “unprecedented bi-partisan effort urging PJM to fix the energy subtraction failures of the past, prevent price increases, and reduce the risk of blackouts.”

“Ensuring the American people have reliable and affordable electricity is one of President Trump’s top priorities, and this would deliver much-needed, long-term relief to the Mid-Atlantic region,” wrote White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers in a statement.

The governors’ proposal would also have extended a cap on PJM’s energy capacity auction, which has lowered the price charged to ratepayers from the last several auctions, during which PJM procures energy supply to feed the grid in the future.

But PJM decided to request additional feedback about the cap before making a final decision.

Meanwhile, PJM executive director Jason Stanek was in Annapolis on Friday, speaking to a panel of legislators from Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, convened by Maryland’s conservative Freedom Caucus.

Stanek, a former Maryland utility regulator, argued that PJM has pursued multiple reforms to approve new energy projects more quickly.

“Despite what you may have heard, our interconnection queue is open, and PJM has been processing the connection of new, and mostly renewable, resources to connect to the grid at record pace,” Stanek said. “We soon hope to turn around requests in a period of one to two years, or possibly sooner.”

During his remarks, Stanek said that states own part of the blame for energy supply worries — and high electric bills, citing state-level energy policies and permitting procedures. He urged the legislators in the room to look inward as they aim to reduce prices.

“We would implore all of our states in the PJM region not to retire any more [power] resources until you have a sufficient amount of resources to backfill those retirements,” Stanek said.

Del. Mark Fisher (R-Calvert) speaks following a panel on energy affordability, convened by the Maryland Freedom Caucus with Republicans from other states in the PJM network. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)

“We would also ask that you look at your state permitting laws on the books to determine whether or not we can actually build energy infrastructure in your states in a timely manner.”

The Republicans in attendance were insistent that Maryland has contributed to its own power woes, by passing legislation to push the state away from fossil fuels — and toward a grid fueled by solar, wind and nuclear power. By law, Maryland has until 2031 to cut its carbon emissions 60% from 2006 levels.

“Why would politicians push to force the economy onto electricity while simultaneously shutting down the very power plants needed to generate it? It’s simple. Virtue signaling, green dreams over common sense,” said Del. Mark Fisher (R-Calvert).

Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey (R-Upper Shore) said Friday that he was initially encouraged by the PJM governors’ announcement, because he agrees that data centers should pay for new power. But he remains concerned that Moore will focus on renewable sources, such as wind and solar, to supply that new power to the grid.

“Gov. Moore needs to embrace natural gas,” Hershey said. “He hasn’t done it yet. He’s trying to talk about nuclear, because it’s clean, but nuclear is 12 or 15 years out. As we heard today in this hearing, the quickest way to get reliable energy back on grid is to open up these retired fossil fuel generation facilities.”

 

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by Christine Condon, Maryland Matters
January 17, 2026

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