Stein Pushes PJM Reforms to Hold Down Power Bills

NC Governor Josh Stein endorsed a sweeping set of reforms on Jan. 16 aimed at holding down electricity costs, joining a bipartisan coalition of governors, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the White House National Energy Dominance Council in pressing changes to the PJM power market.

At the center is PJM Interconnection, a massive grid operator that manages high-voltage transmission and wholesale electricity markets across 13 states, including North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. PJM functions like an air-traffic controller for electricity—coordinating power flows, ensuring reliability, and setting wholesale prices—giving its complex market rules outsized influence on what consumers ultimately pay.

PJM is a nonprofit Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) that is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It doesn't sell power but manages the grid and markets fairly to ensure reliability and competitive pricing, functioning as an impartial coordinator for generators, utilities, and power markets.  The governors urged PJM to quickly file tariff revisions with federal regulators reflecting a shared Statement of Principles designed to stabilize prices and better align costs with the largest electricity users.

Key elements include:

• Revenue certainty for new power plants: A proposal for 15 years of price certainty for new generation, potentially through a Reliability Backstop Auction beginning no later than September 2026.

• Household protections: Extending existing price caps for the next two PJM capacity auctions to blunt increases for residential customers and small businesses.

• Cost allocation to data centers: Shifting the cost of new generation to large data centers that have not self-supplied power or agreed to reduce demand during grid stress, recognizing their growing impact on resource adequacy.

• More accurate demand forecasts: Tightening PJM’s load forecasting so only real, verifiable demand—backed by contracts or financial commitments—is used to justify new capacity.

• Faster grid connections: Accelerating generator interconnection studies and cutting timelines to 150 days or less, consistent with federal orders.

• Return to market fundamentals: Launching reforms to prevent consumers from bearing high long-term costs, with changes targeted ahead of PJM’s May 2027 auction.

  
  

“I am committed to keeping electricity costs as low as possible for families,” Stein said, emphasizing that large power users should pay their fair share rather than shifting costs to households.

The governors also pledged to use state authority to ensure utility rate structures allocate new capacity costs to data centers that drive demand growth.

Stein tied the PJM effort to North Carolina’s broader energy agenda, which combines affordability with clean-energy growth and grid resilience. Since taking office, his administration has announced billions in clean-energy investments and thousands of new jobs, alongside consumer-focused efficiency programs and infrastructure hardening after Hurricane Helene.

The coalition’s message to PJM and federal regulators was blunt: act quickly, protect consumers, and realign the market before rising demand translates into higher bills.