On September 22, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro convened all 13 PJM governors and key stakeholders for the first-ever Summit of the State of PJM Interconnection, aimed at addressing structural issues within the grid operator that threaten affordability, reliability, and economic competitiveness. Shapiro has pushed for PJM to accelerate reforms, arguing the grid must adapt more quickly to innovation and business needs to keep energy costs manageable and enable new generation to connect. The U.S. faces its biggest energy challenge in decades as rising electricity demand, notably from data centers, outpaces aging infrastructure, pressuring PJM to speed up grid expansion and policy reforms.
The summit comes amid mounting challenges for PJM. The interconnection queue is among the slowest in the country, preventing new projects from coming online, while repeated delays in capacity auctions have left little opportunity for new generation to participate. These shortcomings have already driven sharp increases in consumer costs: PJM’s July 2024 auction cleared at $14.7 billion, followed by $16.1 billion in July 2025, compared to a historic average of $2–3 billion. Though Shapiro intervened to cap costs in the 2025 auctions, the June 2026 auction could soar to as much as $40 billion once those caps expire — a scenario that would not only raise consumer bills by double digits but also put grid reliability at risk.
PJM has a history of challenges between member state governments and the broader ISO. Previous flashpoints included direct subsidies for nuclear generation, as well as dramatic differences in renewable portfolio standards (RPS) across different states which, in turn, led to very different generation portfolios in different areas of PJM. The PJM grid, much like other ISOs across the U.S., is now facing the challenge of balancing growing demand with a need to add new generation, all while maintaining system reliability and reasonable costs to end consumers. The next three to five years will be critical in terms of striking an acceptable balance.