WASHINGTON, D.C. — A White House–backed agreement unveiled Friday by governors from 12 states in the PJM power market takes aim at soaring electricity prices and reliability fears—but environmental and consumer advocates warn the plan risks entrenching fossil fuels while clean, cheaper power remains stuck in line.
The proposal urges PJM Interconnection to accelerate its notoriously slow process for connecting new power projects to the grid, committing to improvements in interconnection timelines beginning in 2026. Advocates say that step acknowledges a central failure long flagged across the region: PJM’s years-long backlog that has stalled hundreds of gigawatts of proposed generation.
More than 250 gigawatts of power have waited years for approval to connect, advocates say—about 98 percent of it renewable. If built, that clean energy could power roughly 60 million homes, cutting costs for ratepayers and easing reliability pressures without adding pollution.
The agreement also directs PJM to create a separate pathway for energy-hungry data centers to contract with new power plants. Critics warn that carve-out could fast-track gas-fired projects to serve data centers, allowing them to leapfrog renewable projects already queued—and potentially push costs onto everyday consumers if lucrative data-center contracts siphon capacity from the broader market.
“This is a first step, but the details matter,” said Carolena Bellini, clean energy associate at the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. She said the region’s core problem remains unresolved. “Hundreds of gigawatts of clean, reliable power have languished under PJM’s jurisdiction for years,” Bellini said, urging reforms that bring renewables and storage online faster rather than “fast-tracking dirty new gas plants.”
Abe Scarr, energy and utilities director at the PennPIRG Education Fund, echoed the concern, warning that short-term measures won’t fix systemic issues. “As long as PJM stalls on actually making it possible for new, clean power to come online, regular consumers will continue to pay the price—literally,” Scarr said, adding that safeguards are needed to ensure large tech loads pay their fair share.
Supporters of reform argue that prioritizing interconnection fixes—rather than one-off deals—would lower bills, bolster reliability, and avoid locking the region into costlier, slower-to-build fossil infrastructure. The stakes span the PJM footprint, which serves about 67 million Americans across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
Whether Friday’s agreement becomes a catalyst for lasting change or a detour toward more gas will hinge on how PJM designs and implements the reforms now under pressure from the White House and governors.
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