Saturday, January 17, 2026- President Donald Trump and a bipartisan group of state governors are pushing the operator of the largest U.S. electricity grid, PJM Interconnection, to hold a one‑time emergency power auction aimed at addressing rising electricity demand and soaring consumer prices.
The proposal calls for technology companies particularly those running energy‑intensive data centers to bid on long‑term, 15‑year power contracts that would help finance construction of new power plants to bolster grid capacity. The initiative is being presented as a way to protect households from bearing the full cost of grid expansion amid surging demand driven by artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure.
Under the plan, data center operators would effectively fund new generation capacity, with the auction potentially unlocking around $15 billion in new power infrastructure. The emphasis on extended contracts is designed to provide revenue certainty to developers of natural gas, nuclear, or other power plants, accelerating investment that has lagged behind rapid demand growth in the PJM region, which supplies electricity to more than 67 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C. Administration officials argue that this approach could help contain rising utility bills and reduce the risk of rolling blackouts.
While the emergency auction would be an unprecedented intervention in U.S. power markets, experts caution it currently lacks binding authority and would require regulatory approval and PJM cooperation to proceed. PJM has indicated it is reviewing the proposal alongside its own plans to encourage large energy users to secure their own power or face curtailments during peak demand. The coming months will be critical in determining whether this policy idea moves from proposal to implementation amid broader debates over grid reliability, data center growth, and energy affordability.
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