The biggest U.S. power grid is under strain from AI — and no one is happy
Pity the PJM Interconnection. For decades, the grid operator worked quietly and in the background, matching electricity demand with supply. Meanwhile, customers enjoyed some of the lowest electricity prices in the United States.
No longer. Politicians, businesses, households, power companies think it needs an overhaul. Even PJM is in agreement.
PJM released a white paper this week that said the region “has years, not decades” to make fundamental changes to the way it operates. “The current situation is not tenable,” PJM CEO David Mills wrote in a foreward to the report.
Normally, this sort of wonky report would land on the desks of a few legislators and regulators. But PJM’s territory includes a large number of data centers, including the compute-dense region of Northern Virginia. What happens to PJM will send ripples throughout the tech world.
The 70-page report is an exercise in navel gazing. But despite the deep introspection,...
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