Data center load made up 9% of PJM wholesale costs so far in 2026: market monitor

Wholesale power costs across PJM, the grid operator serving all or part of 13 states plus Washington, D.C., jumped 46% in the first seven months of this year, hitting $56.7 billion, up from $38 billion over the same period last year. The grid's independent market monitor says data centers are a major reason why. Existing and forecast data center demand accounted for 9%, or $10.48 per megawatt-hour, of wholesale power prices through July, driven mainly through PJM's capacity market, the mechanism that pays power plants to be available when needed. That figure doesn't even include the added costs data centers are pushing onto energy and transmission prices separately. Over PJM's last four capacity auctions, data center growth added $29.4 billion in capacity costs combined.

For homeowners in PJM territory, which covers states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, and others, this points to a likely driver behind rising electric bills. Capacity costs alone were up 139% year over year, and overall demand on the grid grew as data centers came online. The market monitor warned these cost pressures will keep growing until something changes about how large data center loads are added to the system.

The report also noted PJM's generation mix: wind supplied 4.5% of electricity so far this year and solar 3.5%, both up slightly from 2025, while gas, coal, and nuclear plants still make up the bulk of capacity. None of this changes what's on your roof or in your basement, but it helps explain why utility bills in much of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest have been climbing.