A 52-0 Vote Will Make Data Centers Pay Their Own Way.

• THE GRID

I was reading PJM's latest filing to FERC when one sentence stopped me cold.

Bring your own power. Or get cut off.

That's the gist. PJM — the grid that serves 67 million people across 13 states — filed a proposal on August 13 to force data centers to secure their own electricity supply. If they don't, PJM can reduce their power to protect the rest of the grid.

This is new. Grid operators have never told a class of customers: find your own juice or we'll pull the plug.

But PJM is running out of room. It expects 70 gigawatts of new large-load demand by 2038. Meanwhile, 15 gigawatts of generation have retired since 2022. The math doesn't work.

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The damage is already showing. Wholesale power costs in PJM's territory surged 50.3% in the first half of this year. Capacity costs tripled. And PJM's own market monitor found that data center demand added $11.11 to every megawatt-hour sold across the region.

Not reversible. That phrase matters. Once capacity clears at a high price, ratepayers are locked in for years.

PJM's fix has two parts. First, create a Large Load Registry so regulators know exactly who is drawing what, and where. Second, make new data centers prove they have contracted power — or face curtailment when the grid gets tight.

PJM also plans to fund up to $20 billion in new power plants to serve data centers through 2027. It expects to seek proposals by September 30.

Virginia lawmakers have pushed for this. So has FERC. The House is set to vote on a ratepayer bill this very week. The political wind is all blowing one direction.

The nation's largest grid just told data centers the free ride is over. Every other grid operator is watching.

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• BLACKOUT WATCH

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• RESISTANCE

Fifty-two to zero. That's how the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act back in July. Not a single "no."

Now Speaker Johnson has fast-tracked it for a floor vote this week.

Bipartisan is rare in Washington. But data center costs have united both parties. The bill would codify what the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge already asked for — that households don't subsidize tech companies' power needs.

Congress isn't alone. Oklahoma passed its own version in May. House Bill 2992 requires large-load users — including data centers and crypto mines — to cover their share of grid costs. Senator Blumenthal introduced the Affordable Electricity Rates Act in August, which would prohibit rate increases that increase overall electricity prices by over 5%. Senator Schiff's bill would force data centers to bring their own power as a condition of grid access.

All of this is happening while utilities have filed $18.6 billion in rate hikes in the first half of 2026. Residential rates are up 33% since 2019. Midterm ads attacking data centers are flooding the airwaves.

A 52-0 committee vote means this isn't close. Congress has picked a side — and it's the ratepayer's side.