“Protecting Maryland residents and businesses from power outages and rising energy costs is central to MEA’s mission to promote clean, affordable, reliable energy for all Marylanders. Yesterday’s PJM actions bolster system reliability, and prioritize service for residents and businesses when power demand exceeds supply,” said Maryland Energy Administration Director Kelly Speakes-Backman. “We appreciate the PJM Board’s willingness to work with states on solutions to support reliable, affordable power for ratepayers.”
PJM will address its generation shortfall in two ways. The first, a proposal for a Reliability Backstop Procurement, will establish a one-time process to purchase new supply resources to exclusively serve new large load customers. PJM will allocate all costs of the procurement to affected electricity suppliers – typically utilities – who will serve these large loads under a newly established rate class for large load customers, currently being developed by the Maryland Public Service Commission.
The second proposal is the Interim Resource Adequacy Service, which authorizes PJM to reduce service to data centers that do not bring their own capacity when there is insufficient supply to meet demand, paired with a crediting mechanism that will require careful state consultation.
The Board directed PJM to file both proposals with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval.
PJM’s plan follows continued action by Maryland to protect residents and businesses amid data center power demand growth. Governor Wes Moore and a coalition of governors from across the region recently secured a capacity market price cap, saving $13.3 billion for ratepayers in PJM’s July auction. In May, Governor Moore signed the Utility RELIEF Act, protecting Marylanders from rising utility costs.
The Maryland Energy Administration promotes clean, affordable, reliable energy and energy-related greenhouse gas emission reductions to benefit Marylanders in a just and equitable manner. For more information about the agency and its programs, visit our website at Energy.Maryland.gov, and follow us on social media: LinkedIn | X | Facebook.
