High-level discussions involved how to accelerate the construction of more than $15 billion in new power generation.
President Donald Trump’s administration and a bipartisan, mid-Atlantic group of governors teamed up on Jan. 16, calling for an emergency power auction and for the nation’s largest grid operator to lower its prices.
In the power auction, companies would bid on 15-year contracts for new electricity generation capacity, creating new power plants to meet AI-driven energy demands.
The officials are urging PJM Interconnection, which handles electricity for Washington and 13 East Coast and Midwest states, to reform its policies to ensure American citizens aren’t burdened with rising costs from new power plants, especially with the increasing energy demand for data centers to power artificial intelligence technology.
The discussions on Friday focused on how to speed up construction of more than $15 billion in new power generation.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum were joined by Governors Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.), and Wes Moore (D-Md.) in signing a “Statement of Principles” at the White House event.
The remaining governors from the rest of the PJM-serviced states have also signed onto the initiative.
“High electricity prices are a choice,” Wright said in a statement. “The Biden administration’s forceful closures of coal and natural gas plants without reliable replacements left the United States in an energy emergency. Perhaps no region in America is more at risk than in PJM.”
PJM outlined in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times its board’s plan to integrate new data centers onto its grid while preserving its systems for the roughly 67 million people it serves.
The plan involves 12 proposals, which PJM said includes some to be filed directly with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other changes the grid operator can make immediately.
Some of the PJM board’s proposals are “significant load forecasting improvements,” “immediate initiation of a backdrop generation procurement process to address short-term reliability needs,” an increased role for states, and a review of PJM markets.
“This is not a yes/no to data centers. This is ‘How can we do this while keeping the lights on and recognizing the impact on consumers at the same time?’” PJM Board Chair, Interim President, and CEO David Mills said in the statement.
Trump declared a National Energy Emergency when he took office last year, warning of blackouts and soaring energy prices due to the prior administration’s clean energy push.
By Troy Myers
