Data centers Archives | Citizens Utility Board

CUB statement: Capacity market prices reflect need for data center reform

Jim Chilsen — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 23:03:56 +0000

The following is a statement from CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz on the results of PJM Interconnection’s 2027-28 capacity auction, announced Wednesday, Dec. 17 (Read the full statement here.) After a third straight auction marked by unacceptably high prices, it is painfully obvious that our capacity market is breaking under the weight of data center demand and a dysfunctional interconnection queue. Even worse, since the auction results fell below the reliability requirement, consumers are getting the worst of all worlds: paying more money for reduced electric reliability, while existing generators get a windfall. These results ramp up the urgency for decisive action from both PJM Interconnection and individual states, such as Illinois, to rein in runaway data center-related energy demand and protect customers from future price spikes. Data center companies are among the wealthiest in the world, and it is simply unconscionable that customers should pay unbearably high power costs to foot the bill for data center energy guzzling. This is a historic moment that requires action and leadership from PJM and the states in defense of electric customers. What’s good for reliability is good for affordability: Data centers must be held accountable for their own costs. Without real reforms, in just a few years 67 million electric customers in the PJM footprint could face rolling blackouts and an escalation of power bills that make the current price spikes seem tame. While there is a long list of actions that are required, these reforms are at the top of the list: PJM should extend the lower price cap to protect customers, and eliminate any price floor. PJM and states should require data centers to bring their own new clean energy. States should require that data centers operate under maximum energy efficiency and assign data centers into a special rate class to make sure those facilities, and not everyday customers, are paying for data center-related upgrades to the distribution system. –CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz Background: On Wednesday, Dec. 17, PJM Interconnection, a “Regional Transmission Organization,” announced the results of an auction to determine the price for reserve power, or “capacity.” 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 Dec. 4-10. It set a capacity price of $333.44 per Megawatt-day, which will be in effect from June 1, 2027 through May 31, 2028. Capacity costs are payments consumers make to power generators–the companies that own power plants. These costs are a key component (roughly 20 percent) of the price ComEd customers pay for electricity. ComEd has not yet announced how this will impact its supply price in June of 2027. Like last year, the capacity cost hit a price cap negotiated by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The price is more than 11 times higher than what the price was for 2024-2025. That price cap is set to go away after this auction, when a status quo, higher price cap is reinstated. Capacity auction prices in recent […]

The post CUB statement: Capacity market prices reflect need for data center reform appeared first on Citizens Utility Board.

Heading into 2026, CUB names biggest threats to utility bills

Jim Chilsen — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:18:11 +0000

Based on its experience combatting high utility costs over the past year, the consumer watchdog Citizens Utility Board (CUB) of Illinois has issued its list of what looks to be major threats to utility affordability in 2026. “As consumers struggle with high prices across the board for everyday necessities like groceries and health care, escalating utility costs just make their lives more difficult,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “We think it’s important to identify the biggest culprits for rising energy bills, so consumers can be empowered to work for solutions.” Runaway Data Center Energy Demand. Unprecedented energy demand connected to data centers was the primary cause of a 45-50 percent spike in electricity prices for Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois customers in the summer of 2025. Elevated prices will remain a problem in 2026, and customers face even higher bills and rolling blackouts in the years to come if decisive action isn’t taken in Springfield and at PJM Interconnection, the power grid operator for northern Illinois and all or part of a dozen other states. CUB has written about state and regional reforms that could rein in data centers. Rate-hike-hungry utilities. Major electric and gas utilities—ComEd, Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas—have pushed for billions of dollars in rate hikes on the “delivery” section of bills in recent years. Under utility regulation, gas and electric companies earn a return on their infrastructure investments, incentivizing them to spend aggressively and push for rate hikes. The current Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has shown more sensitivity toward customer affordability in recent years, and consumer advocates have helped slash rate-hike requests significantly. But for far too many customers, any rate hike is difficult. Bad alternative supplier deals. Many Illinois consumers are allowed to choose a company other than their utility to supply them with electricity or gas, but the market is littered with bad deals. For example, CUB’s review of state data in 2025 found that Illinois electricity customers have lost more than $2.1 billion to alternative suppliers over the last 10 years. The utility’s supply price is likely your best bet. Also, consider a community solar offer. Volatile energy markets. After a period of relative stability, Illinois consumers have been hit by skyrocketing gas prices in recent years. Analysts have predicted that prices could grow more volatile as increasing volumes of fuel are exported through liquefied natural gas facilities. In December, eight of Illinois’ nine utilities are charging supply prices that are higher than last December, by a range of 10 percent to 63 percent, according to a CUB review. Escalating water bills. Illinois American and Aqua Illinois—the state’s two biggest private water utilities—have spent more than $411 million buying up public water systems since 2013. And under state law, they can charge customers for 100 percent of those acquisition costs. CUB is working for a legislative reform that would require shareholders, and not everyday consumers, to shoulder the majority of those costs. Learn more about this issue at CUBWaterTracker.com. (Note: The parent companies of Aqua and Illinois American have announced plans to merge.) Inefficient homes. The federal […]

The post Heading into 2026, CUB names biggest threats to utility bills appeared first on Citizens Utility Board.

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 […]

The post Data center distress: CUB, NRDC experts warn PJM states could get hit with forced blackouts, $163B in electricity capacity costs appeared first on Citizens Utility Board.

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

The post How data centers are raising our bills in Illinois–and what we should do about it appeared first on Citizens Utility Board.