PJM Market Monitor Links Data Centers to $10.48/MWh in 2026 Costs

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Existing and forecast data-center demand accounted for an estimated 9% of PJM’s wholesale power price through July 2026, or $10.48 per megawatt-hour, according to Monitoring Analytics, PJM’s independent market monitor.

The estimate was presented at a PJM Members Committee meeting on August 24 and reported by Utility Dive on August 27. It measures the effect of data-center load on PJM’s capacity market. It is not a direct surcharge on household electric bills, and it excludes data-center-related increases in energy-market and transmission costs.

What the estimate measures i

PJM operates a wholesale electricity market serving all or parts of more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia. Its capacity market pays generators and other resources to remain available when electricity is needed, including during periods of high demand.

Monitoring Analytics reported that existing and forecast data-center load growth increased capacity-market revenues by a combined $29.4 billion across PJM’s last four capacity auctions. The figure is the monitor’s attribution of additional market revenue tied to higher demand; it is not a confirmed amount already paid by residential customers.

The $10.48-per-megawatt-hour figure is likewise an attribution within PJM’s wholesale market, not a calculation of what each utility customer will see on a bill. Load-serving entities, including utilities and other approved electricity suppliers, must obtain capacity through PJM’s market or through other approved arrangements. Those wholesale costs can flow into utility procurement expenses and, depending on state regulation and the utility’s rate structure, customer bills.

The effect will vary by utility territory, customer class, state rate rules and each company’s procurement strategy. Some customers may see impacts through regulated supply rates, while others may be affected through competitive contracts or later rate proceedings.

Wholesale costs rose sharply i

PJM’s total wholesale power cost rose 46% year over year during the first seven months of 2026, reaching $56.7 billion, or $116.53 per megawatt-hour, according to market-monitor data cited by Utility Dive. During the comparable period in 2025, the figures were $38 billion and $79.57 per megawatt-hour.

The increase reflected higher energy and capacity costs. The market-monitor estimate does not say that data centers caused the entire 46% increase, nor does it measure the full cost of data-center growth across PJM’s wholesale system.

Reliability is part of the dispute i

Monitoring Analytics identified large data-center loads as a direct cause of higher capacity prices and warned that prices could rise further without changes to PJM’s market design. The issue is also about reliability: grid planners must add new demand without allowing load growth to outpace available generation and transmission.

PJM’s actual reserve margin on June 1, 2026, was 18.4%, below the 18.6% target cited in the market-monitor report. A reserve margin measures available generating capacity above expected demand. The comparison does not by itself establish an outage or reliability emergency, but it illustrates the challenge of adding large loads while maintaining operating headroom.

What happens next i

On June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued orders directing all six regional grid operators under its jurisdiction to justify or reform tariffs governing data centers and other large energy users. FERC said the orders address issues including cost allocation, co-located generation and generation adequacy.

The orders are regulatory actions requiring further review or tariff changes, not a completed nationwide solution. The next major questions are whether PJM’s proposed changes for large-load integration and reliability are accepted, modified or rejected by FERC, and how regulators allocate costs between data centers and other customers.

For households, the immediate takeaway is narrower than the headline number may suggest: $10.48 per megawatt-hour is a PJM wholesale capacity-market estimate, not a fixed increase on every electric bill. The broader consumer impact will depend on how utilities procure power, how state regulators review costs and whether future market rules require large new customers to bear more of the expenses associated with their demand.

Sources

• Monitoring Analytics — 2026 Quarterly State of the Market Report for PJM: January through June, Section 5: Capacity
• Utility Dive — Data center load made up 9% of PJM wholesale costs so far in 2026
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — Large Load Integration Orders

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