PJM Capacity Auction Hits $325 Cap as 6.8 GW Shortfall Deepens for 2028-2029
Updated
Updated · Utility Dive · Jul 15
PJM Capacity Auction Hits $325 Cap as 6.8 GW Shortfall Deepens for 2028-2029
3 articles · Updated · Utility Dive · Jul 15
Summary
$325/MW-day cleared across PJM’s 2028-2029 capacity auction, but the grid still fell about 6.8 GW short of its 20% reserve-margin target, worse than the prior auction’s 6.5 GW gap.
Only 525 MW of new resources entered the auction, while forecast demand rose roughly 2 GW—largely from data centers—and demand response cleared fell 277 MW to 7,365 MW.
Without the price cap, PJM said the auction would have cleared near $555/MW-day regionwide and $777/MW-day in northern Illinois, lifting total cost to $29.7 billion instead of $16.4 billion.
PJM plans to file this month for a September backstop auction and a “connect and manage” framework for data centers as analysts and consumer advocates press for broader market and transmission reforms.
Bills may change little from the last auction when the delivery year starts in June 2028, but a 10-MW industrial customer’s monthly capacity charge is still projected to jump to about $70,000 from roughly $6,000 in 2024.