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Consumers for a Better Grid’s 2025 Year In Review

Elizabeth — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 19:13:49 +0000

It’s time for another annual reflection from CUB’s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign. With millions of customers dealing with electricity price spikes, 2025 was a busy year advocating for consumers at PJM Interconnection and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As part of that mission, the campaign held four media briefings, presented at or attended eight conferences, intervened in at least 10 legal cases, and was quoted by at least 25 different media outlets. Here’s more detail on what we tackled this year… Consumer education Many people have never heard of PJM Interconnection, but it manages the nation’s largest power grid–from northern Illinois all the way to the East Coast–and it has a major impact on electric reliability and affordability for 67 million customers across the country. So educating consumers about PJM is important. More and more grassroots groups and organizations across the PJM region have been reaching out for information and ways to engage with everyday consumers about this issue. To respond to this surge in interest, we recorded our PJM 101 briefing, which to date has over 1,000 views! In order to help make PJM material more accessible, Karen Tolentino, the Clean Energy Outreach and Communications Coordinator for CUB Español, re-recorded the video in Spanish. Legislative victories After years of effort, Maryland was the first state to pass a bill requiring utilities to report the votes they take at PJM–and Delaware and New Jersey soon followed. Campaign Manager Clara Summers has testified on the bill for the last two years—it was exciting to see it pass! Hopefully we’ll see more states pass this pro-consumer legislation. In Illinois, the CUB team was instrumental in passing the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act. This sweeping energy legislation will help counteract high prices from PJM by bringing more batteries online and promoting energy efficiency, among other strong provisions. Litigation We intervened in at least 10 legal dockets at FERC, the Department of Energy, and in the courts on issues ranging from capacity market management, improving transmission planning, and protecting the ability of FERC to impose penalties on bad actors. There were a number of topics we worked on this year, but here are some of the biggest… Decoding the broken capacity market—past, present, and future Past and present: If you were plugged in last summer, you may remember that PJM’s capacity market produced record-high prices that would start to hit in June of this year. We worked to ensure consumers were prepared for the upcoming price spike (if you need more information and tips about spiking power prices, please visit our Help Center). In two Facebook Lives, Clara and Annie Warnock, Bilingual Consumer Rights Specialist, gave out important consumer information about the price spikes at the beginning and end of the summer. Future: Unfortunately, high prices will continue for several years. In July, the results of the 2026-27 capacity auction were announced–and once again the auction resulted in a record-high price. Clara was ready to break it down for the public, and Sarah talked through the results on WBEZ. In our statement, we wrote, “While we are relieved that the […]

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CUB Q&A: PJM’s Critical Issue Fast Path (CIFP) Policy Proposal on Data Centers

Elizabeth — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 16:12:51 +0000

What’s happening? On Wednesday, November 19, PJM members will vote on how to integrate data centers into the grid. As we’ve detailed elsewhere, data centers require massive amounts of electricity and drive up consumer costs. Some, but not all, proposals would ensure that data centers only connect to the electric system if we maintain reliability and affordability. Who is voting? PJM has 5 different types of members, Generation Owners, Transmission Owners, Electric Distributors, Other Suppliers, and End Use Customers (big industrial users of electricity and consumer advocates, like CUB). If you’re noticing how much power big monied interests have, and how little consumers have, you’re not wrong. Do state lawmakers have a vote? No. Does anyone represent the public interest? Only the 14 voting consumer advocate offices. Big tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta are not yet PJM members. How does the vote work? What are they voting on? There are 20 proposals! They all fall on a spectrum of doing next-to-nothing to protect reliability and affordability, to actually making data centers take responsibility for themselves. PJM Members can vote “yes” on multiple proposals. The vote is advisory, which means the PJM Board does not have to follow its results. However, proposals getting a significant amount of votes will certainly attract the PJM Board’s attention. What are the issues important to consumers? CUB is evaluating proposals based on the following criteria: -Require data centers to bring their own new generation or demand response for consistent service. Stealing existing generation doesn’t count. -…if data centers don’t bring their own generation or demand response, then they are required to act flexibly or be interruptible (can turn them off as needed). Data centers must never cause blackouts for the rest of us. -Improve the load forecast to make sure that PJM doesn’t double-count speculative data centers. -Overall, prevent data center capacity, energy, and transmission costs from falling on consumers. Which proposals meet CUB’s criteria? CUB has joined in with consumer advocates from Maryland and Pennsylvania on a proposal, called the Joint Consumer Advocates proposal. The proposal protects consumers from high capacity costs, limits energy costs, improves load forecasting, extends the price cap for two years, and starts a new stakeholder process to prevent data centers from increasing our transmission costs. The proposal was carefully developed with consumers at the forefront. Other proposals that meet CUB’s criteria include proposals by the Independent Market Monitor, the Legislative Collaborative/NRDC, and Silverman/Glatz. What are the stakes? Rolling blackouts and spiking bills. If nothing is done, we are looking at an average monthly increase of $70 on our monthly electric bills by 2028. By 2033, it could be $163 billion across all of PJM. That’s unacceptable. Read our other WatchBlog articles about reining in data center costs: How data centers are raising our bills in Illinois–and what we should do about it Data center distress: CUB, NRDC experts warn PJM states could get hit with forced blackouts, $163B in electricity capacity costs

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Data center distress: CUB, NRDC experts warn PJM states could get hit with forced blackouts, $163B in electricity capacity costs

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:36:40 +0000

Record new demand from data centers is driving up energy costs and concerns about reliable power supply. Preliminary utility forecasts in PJM Interconnection, the largest power grid operator in the country, show that data centers could require more than 50 gigawatts of peak electricity capacity by 2030 — enough to power more than 20 million households, or approximately all the homes in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland combined. At a media briefing hosted by Consumers for a Better Grid on October 22, experts from the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) provided context for what is at stake for consumers and grid reliability if skyrocketing data center energy demand isn’t addressed, and provided potential solutions that put consumers first. The panelists noted that electricity demand from proposed data centers is the primary reason for recent electricity bill spikes for residents living in PJM states, according to PJM’s Independent Market Monitor. Steeply increasing forecast data center growth was responsible for $9.3 billion of a $14 billion regional capacity bill in 2025/26, and hitting the higher market cap starting in the summer of 2028 will result in a total of $163 billion cumulatively in capacity costs through 2033 (including $21.4 billion for ComEd territory in northern Illinois). That translates to a $70-per-month increase for the average household, according to NRDC. (See this fact sheet for more details.) PJM is currently evaluating options to address this new load demand in a process called the Critical Issue Fast Path (CIFP). Any decisions made during this process will have huge ramifications on consumers—from the price of electricity, to how to deal with who doesn’t get electricity supply during times of high demand, to what types of new energy sources are added or fast-tracked for development. PJM’s current proposal does not require data centers to reduce energy consumption during peak demand times, which could lead to rolling blackouts. PJM is also proposing a 10-month fast track for new resources, meaning these projects will effectively “jump” the Interconnection Queue, which primarily comprises clean energy projects that have been waiting over five years for approval. A better approach, as noted by Consumers for a Better Grid, would require data centers to cover their own costs and bring their own capacity, utilize energy efficiency and demand flexibility, and improve load forecasting to prevent overpaying. Speakers included Claire Lang-Ree, Advocate for the Sustainable FERC Project, Natural Resources Defense Council and Clara Summers, Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign Manager, Citizens Utility Board of Illinois. Quotes from speakers: Claire Lang-Ree, Advocate for the Sustainable FERC Project, Natural Resources Defense Council: “Average utility bills have already increased by $20 to $30 due to the price increase that we saw in the last auction, and this problem will just get worse through the coming decade if nothing is done. We’re estimating that average bills could increase by another $70 per month.” “It’s hard to overstate what’s at stake here. The basic problem in PJM is that projected demand is outpacing supply.” “When we talk about reliability, sometimes it can be difficult to understand, does that mean […]

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How data centers are raising our bills in Illinois–and what we should do about it

Elizabeth — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 17:24:27 +0000

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CUB statement on FERC ordering PJM to make interconnection improvements

Jim Chilsen — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 15:58:42 +0000

The following is a statement from Clara Summers, manager of the Citizens Utility Board’s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign. (Read CUB’s full statement here.) We thank the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for ordering PJM to take specific steps to finally update its interconnection queue rules to meet national standards. PJM is now required to plan for battery storage and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in commonsense ways. In light of two straight years of record-high prices in PJM’s capacity auction–and demands from multiple states to clean up its act and better protect customers from price spikes–it is high time for the power grid operator to get back on track. Sixty-seven million customers in the nation’s largest power grid have been subjected to unreasonably high power bills because of PJM’s inaction. We hope that these changes, combined with PJM’s recent plans to use AI to more quickly complete studies, will speed up the woefully beleaguered interconnection queue. We urge the grid operator to make the ordered changes and work with PJM states and environmental and consumer advocates to process the interconnection queue faster and reduce prices. Background: On Thursday, July 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a ruling on PJM Interconnection’s request (filed in May of 2024) for exceptions to comply with Order 2023. FERC… For the third time sent the issue back to PJM to come up with a new plan for compliance around how it studies battery storage and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs). PJM will finally be required to make realistic assumptions and plan for the grid of the future. However, FERC also approved PJM’s longer interconnection queue study timeline. FERC Order 2023 is a set of reforms the Commission issued in July of 2023. It is designed to help power grid operators across the nation modernize their grids and streamline the interconnection process to reduce the wait time for new power plants to come online. PJM has the nation’s longest wait times in its “interconnection queue,” the line of new energy resources waiting to connect to the grid and come online. The wait time for those resources–mostly wind, solar and battery projects–is more than five years. The resources stuck in PJM’s queue could provide abundant and low-cost energy for the region and bring down the record-high prices in PJM’s capacity market, but the wait times are so long that some of them don’t even get built. In June of 2024, seven organizations — including CUB, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice — filed a protest to PJM’s request for exceptions. Among other things, CUB argues… If PJM has publicly stated that the grid is in a crisis caused by supply constraints and rising demand, then why is it slow-walking interconnection reforms? PJM, for example, requested that FERC allow it 540 days to complete two studies required for the interconnection process–significantly longer than the time called for in the federal reforms. PJM takes an illogical and problematic stance on batteries, assuming that energy storage will sap electricity from the grid during peak-demand times, when it […]

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PJM Capacity Auction Leads to Record Price Spike for Second Straight Year, Threatens Even Higher Com Ed Bills in 2026-27

Elizabeth — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 21:24:13 +0000

CUB released the following statement: While we are relieved that the negotiated price cap prevented capacity costs from soaring even higher, this record price spike is unacceptable. CUB is deeply concerned that ComEd customers will continue to bear painfully high costs for another year, largely because of policy shortcomings from PJM. The power grid operator’s policy decisions too often favor outdated, expensive power plants and needlessly block low-cost clean energy resources and battery projects from connecting to the grid and bringing down prices. This extended price spike was preventable. It ramps up the urgency of implementing long-term reforms at PJM and comprehensive energy legislation in Illinois, such as the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, to protect customers from price spikes that serve only to give power generators windfall profits. –CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz Background On Tuesday, July 22, PJM Interconnection, a “Regional Transmission Organization,” announced the results of an auction that determines the price for reserve power, or “capacity.” Capacity costs are a key component of the price Commonwealth Edison customers pay for electricity. PJM is the largest grid operator in the country, serving 67 million customers across all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia (including Commonwealth Edison’s 4.2 million customers). The auction (technically referred to as the “Base Residual Auction”) was held July 9-15. It set a record-high capacity price of $329.17 per Megawatt-day from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027. The capacity cost hit a cap negotiated by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and is about 22 percent higher than the price that was set last year for ComEd territory and about 11 times higher than what the price was two years ago. Capacity costs are payments consumers make to power generators–the companies that own power plants–and they have a key impact on the supply price ComEd customers pay. ComEd’s price spiked on June 1 of this year because of high capacity costs, and, because of the latest auction, it will again in June of 2026. (ComEd has not yet announced what the supply price will be next June.) The 2024 capacity auction set a then-record price of about $269.92 per MW-day, about 830 percent higher than the $28.92 per MW-day capacity price set in the auction the year before. Following the price spike in the last auction, consumer and environmental advocates pushed for several changes: RMR reform: Environmental advocates successfully pushed for changes in the way PJM handles Reliability Must Run (RMR) arrangements. RMRs allow PJM to funnel extra consumer money to an otherwise retiring plant to keep it open past its closure date. Under previous PJM policy, the electric capacity of an RMR plant was NOT included in the capacity auction. Consumers thus ended up paying double: first for the price of the RMR contract, and then again because of the high capacity prices that result from not counting the RMR plant. For example, the Independent Market Monitor estimated that not including Brandon Shores and Wagner–two RMR fossil fuel plants near Baltimore, Maryland–in the last capacity auction increased the cost by as much as 40 percent. Changes made since the last […]

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Statement: CUB Joins Other Consumer Advocates in Challenging Federally Mandated Rate Hike to Keep ‘Zombie Power Plant’ Open

Elizabeth — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 21:24:20 +0000

The following is a statement by Clara Summers, manager of the Citizens Utility Board’s Consumers for a Better Grid campaign, on a federal order to keep the Eddystone Generating Station, a power plant in Pennsylvania, open. The move could needlessly cost customers across the country, including Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) customers in Illinois, millions of dollars in higher electric bills. In a summer when Illinois electricity customers are already paying higher power bills, a new Department of Energy (DOE) order will unnecessarily add to our pain, and that’s why we are challenging it. The DOE’s maneuver is not about reliability–this is a handout to the fossil fuel industry, paid for by consumers across the region, including Illinois. PJM has already concluded that there are adequate resources for this summer, but the DOE has manufactured an emergency to prop up an outdated power plant that should already be shuttered. The DOE just made a bad situation even worse, and Illinois consumers will pay the price. In challenging the DOE order, CUB and other consumer advocates argue that keeping this “zombie power plant” open is not only costly for consumers, but it’s also illegal, a violation of the Federal Power Act. Background: Consumer advocates, including the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) of Illinois and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, are challenging a U.S. Department of Energy 202(c) order that has kept an aging oil and gas plant in Eddystone, Pennsylvania open this summer past its close date–at extra cost to consumers. Consumer advocates initially estimate that keeping the Eddystone Generating Station open 90 days past its expected close date will cost consumers across the PJM region around $5.1 million. If the 90-day order is extended–as expected–it will cost more. The operating units at Eddystone run on oil or gas and were built around 50 years ago (1974 and 1976). They were slated to be closed on May 31, before the DOE issued its order mandating PJM Interconnection, the power grid operator, and Constellation, the owner of the plant, to keep them open for another 90 days. The DOE vaguely cited an “emergency situation” regarding reliability. However, the challenge, filed on June 27 by the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel (OPC) and a coalition of consumer advocates, argues that no emergency justified the Department’s order and requests a rehearing on the matter. The DOE has 30 days to respond to the request, after which parties can challenge the order in court. Joining in support of the OPC filing were CUB, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate and the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel. The DOE’s May 30 order on Eddystone followed a similar order a week earlier to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) mandating that the coal-fired J.H. Campbell Power Plant in West Olive, Michigan remain open for 90-days at an estimated cost of $100 million. Consumer and environmental advocates, including CUB, are also challenging that order.

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News Release: Breakthrough Agreement with Ameren will Accelerate Clean Energy, Cut Costs with Smarter Grid Planning

Elizabeth — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 19:45:54 +0000

Today the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) have announced they reached a settlement with Ameren to integrate grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) into transmission planning in its service territory in Illinois, helping maximize customer benefits of Ameren’s transmission investments. (CUB Note: This blog article is based on a joint release from ELPC, EDF and CUB. Read the original release here.) Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) are advanced hardware and software tools that can deliver many benefits, including slashing the time and cost needed to add renewable energy to the grid. GETs can save ratepayers money by increasing how much electricity the transmission system can deliver to customers, optimizing transmission so less electricity is wasted, and working with other technologies like battery storage that can increase reliability. These technologies can sometimes make new transmission lines unnecessary, or they can be used in conjunction with new or existing lines to enhance overall grid performance. In other instances, GETs can help new transmission lines respond smarter and faster to network outages. Ameren had proposed its “Tranche 1” transmission project to address reliability challenges and support additional load growth, emphasizing the need to accommodate future clean energy interconnections. While these are all important goals, the groups noted that Ameren could provide more benefits for its customers at less cost by considering advanced transmission technologies. Under the settlement, Ameren would update its local transmission planning criteria and guidelines to include GETs and other technologies that make transmission lines more efficient, providing additional benefits to customers. Ameren will also conduct annual reviews of its system to identify areas where GETs could enable new renewable resources to connect to the grid. This would create a new planning approach to support increasing loads while reducing costs for Ameren customers, and ensuring more efficient use of grid resources. Sarah Moskowitz, Executive Director with Citizens Utility Board, said: “Grid-enhancing technologies are an absolute must for the success of the clean energy transition–saving money for everyday electricity customers, holding down costs for utilities, and strengthening reliability. This unique settlement – a win for both consumers and Ameren – can serve as a national model for wise, cost-effective transmission planning that is so critical to building a clean, affordable energy future for all electric customers.” Curt Stokes, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, said: “Ratepayers will benefit from clean, low cost, reliable power as grid enhancing technologies unlock a smarter, more modern grid. We look forward to continuing to work with Ameren to find innovative ways to use technology to uncover customer savings when planning new transmission projects.” Nick Wallace, Senior Associate Attorney with ELPC, said: “This settlement bears the fruits of years of advocacy to make GETs a standard part of transmission planning. GETs have proven their ability to improve grid reliability, reduce costs for ratepayers, and increase the connection of new clean resources like wind and solar – delivering immediate and clear benefits for both consumers and the environment.”

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The good, the bad, and the ugly at the nation’s largest power grid operator

Jim Chilsen — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:42:07 +0000

By Clara Summers, Campaign Manager Consumers for a Better Grid (a project of CUB) It’s been a busy summer advocating for electric customers at PJM, a power grid operator that controls the flow of electricity over big transmission lines that stretch across northern Illinois and all or parts of a dozen other states. CUB started the Consumers for a Better Grid project because decisions by PJM–the nation’s largest grid operator–affect how clean, reliable and affordable power is for ComEd customers. So here’s a breakdown of some major developments concerning PJM this summer–the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently came out with a new regulation, Order 1920, for how to plan transmission. (If you need an overview of what transmission is, check out our previous blog). The rule is timely and necessary, since building transmission haphazardly is more expensive and less beneficial, and transmission lines are critical to move cheap renewable energy to where it is consumed. Recently, the Illinois Commerce Commission weighed in on Order 1920, adopting a resolution that called it “a historic order that addresses the need for long term transmission planning.” The FERC rule does a couple of things: It requires that transmission operators, like PJM, take into account a number of key factors when planning for the future. These factors include state laws, utility integrated resource plans, where we expect power generation to retire, where we expect power generation to connect to the grid, and trends in fuel costs. One of the big questions and frequent fights is: Who pays for transmission? As consumer advocates, this is something we really care about! Fortunately, FERC’s Order doesn’t change anything fundamental about how payment, or “cost allocation,” gets assigned. If you benefit from the transmission, you will contribute to the bill. If you don’t benefit, you won’t pay. FERC included a list of benefits to consider when assigning payment, which are all related to reliability and reducing costs. The bad: If implemented properly, the FERC rule could be a big step forward. But unfortunately, PJM would rather stay in place. They have gone back to FERC requesting a rehearing, or basically, a do-over of some of their decisions. (If the FERC rule is a homework assignment, PJM is going back to the teacher to ask if they can change the assignment. We hope the “teacher”–FERC–just tells them to do the homework.) One of the changes PJM is asking for is the requirement to consider state policy in planning. PJM would rather close its eyes to strong energy laws–like Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act– that have been passed by state legislatures across the region and assume that they don’t exist. That would mean building a transmission system that can’t meet our future needs. The ugly: As if that weren’t enough, PJM is also trying to get approval from FERC for a deal it secretly negotiated with transmission owners, called the Consolidated Transmission Owners Agreement, or CTOA. Transmission owners are the wealthy and powerful energy companies–like Exelon, the parent of utility ComEd–that own the big, high voltage lines that crisscross […]

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Fighting for your rights at the nation’s largest power grid

Elizabeth — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:08:19 +0000

Our electric bills are affected not just by a local utility, like ComEd or Ameren Illinois, but also by large power grid operators with funny names like “PJM” and “MISO.” That’s why CUB launched a campaign called Consumers for a Better Grid. The campaign’s mission is to hold grid operators, also called Regional Transmission Organizations, or RTOs, “accountable to consumers, states and a clean, affordable energy future.” RTOs manage the flow of electricity over transmission lines–the complex network of high-voltage power lines that carry energy long distances from power plants, across states and regions, and eventually to local distribution systems that serve our homes. RTOs also manage wholesale electricity markets, including running auctions that set prices for reserve energy, called “capacity.” Illinois is served by two RTOs: the PJM Interconnection and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). “Even though many people have not heard of these RTOs, the policies they set have a significant impact on how clean, reliable and affordable our electricity is,” said Clara Summers, manager of the Consumers for a Better Grid campaign. “Transmission is the fastest growing portion of our electric bills,” she said. “We need more transmission, but it needs to be well-planned. The better RTOs plan, the more efficient and cost-effective our transmission system will be. Right now, RTOs are making decisions that are driving up costs, slowing our climate progress, or potentially reducing electric reliability. That’s why we need to care about them.” But often the decisions RTOs make are unknown to the public, and in PJM’s case, the process is shrouded in mystery. PJM is the largest grid operator in the country, covering 65 million electric customers from ComEd territory in northern Illinois all the way to the East Coast. Managing the grid is an essential service–PJM has the power of a government. But it’s run like a private corporation, with board meetings behind closed doors. While consumer advocates do get to vote on PJM policies, voting on policies is dominated by big electricity generators, transmission companies and electric utilities, such as ComEd–and many of those votes are secret. (CUB is trying to change that–read about our campaign for HB 4747.) “I first heard about PJM because its policies were preventing states from meeting their clean energy requirements,” Clara said. “States should be able to implement clean, affordable energy laws without being undermined by a grid operator.” Clara, who grew up on a rural island in Washington state where it wasn’t unusual for the power to go out, has a long track record of fighting the good fight. Her resume includes a year in Indonesia as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, as well as stints with Interfaith Power & Light, a group that works with faith communities to take climate action, the environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. When not deep in the weeds of energy policy, she enjoys Irish dance, hammered dulcimer–and she also fosters sometimes cantankerous kittens. “If you had asked me a few years ago whether I cared about transmission, I would have given you a blank stare,” Clara said. “It really hadn’t come […]

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