The artificial intelligence revolution is driving up demand for electricity across the PJM Interconnection Region, a regional transmission organization that coordinates wholesale electricity markets in 13 states, including Maryland, plus the District of Columbia.
The increased demand for electrons is sending electricity costs soaring, with grid reliability expected to fall below targets by mid-2027. The growth of data center electricity demand is also showing no signs of slowing, with PJM projected to add almost 30 gigawatts of new demand by 2028 – the equivalent of adding the data electricity demand of Baltimore to the PJM grid each year.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute analyzed several of the leading reform efforts, focusing on whether data center flexibility requirements, including the “connect & manage” program currently under consideration by PJM, could put the brakes on rapidly increasing electricity rates and help the grid remain reliably. The findings are detailed in a new report intended to information legislative and regulatory reform efforts across the region as policymakers try to thread the needle on securing the economic benefits of the AI revolution without raising costs for consumers or diminishing grid reliability.
“Our analysis demonstrates that requiring data centers to accept occasional power interruptions saves over $15 billion per year for the whole PJM region. If we translate these savings into each customer or household, it would be roughly $200 for every person in PJM, or about $1,000 for every household,” says Yury Dvorkin, a core researcher with ROSEI who is also an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and civil and systems engineering. “These savings can be realized if we find a way to coordinate data center and power grid operations.”