{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Citizens Utility Board","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org","title":"CUB Q and A: Another capacity auction, more bad news\u2013so what happened?\u00a0 | Citizens Utility Board","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"eYhkoGqSvw\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/31\/cub-q-and-a-another-capacity-auction-more-bad-news-so-what-happened\/\">CUB Q and A: Another capacity auction, more bad news\u2013so what happened?\u00a0<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/31\/cub-q-and-a-another-capacity-auction-more-bad-news-so-what-happened\/embed\/#?secret=eYhkoGqSvw\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;CUB Q and A: Another capacity auction, more bad news\u2013so what happened?\u00a0&#8221; &#8212; Citizens Utility Board\" data-secret=\"eYhkoGqSvw\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","description":"By Clara Summers Manager, CUB\u2019s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign You may have seen a flurry of news about electric bill increases due to something called a \u201ccapacity auction.\u201d Or worse, you opened your June ComEd bill and saw a sharp uptick. You can learn more about PJM\u2019s capacity market and this year\u2019s price spike in our previous blog, and by visiting our Help Center.\u00a0 Sadly, there\u2019s more bad news. Prices are going up yet again\u2013next June. Let\u2019s break it down.\u00a0 So what\u2019s happening to ComEd bills? The price spike we are experiencing now was set in stone last July. That\u2019s when PJM held its auction for 2025\/2026 to determine what we pay for reserve electricity, or capacity. It was bad enough when prices reached record highs for that auction, but PJM just set another record for its 2026\/2027\u00a0 auction, which will go into effect on June 1, 2026. The auction price jumped 22 percent, increasing from $269.92 per Megawatt-day to $329.17 per MW-day. That doesn\u2019t mean your bill will go up 22 percent&#8211;capacity is only one component of ComEd\u2019s supply price for electricity\u2013but it does mean your bill will increase.* ComEd initially said bills will go up by about 2 percent next year\u2013on top of the spike consumers are feeling now\u2013but we won\u2019t know final estimates until sometime next May.\u00a0 Did anything change since the last auction? After last year\u2019s devastating auction results, advocates sprung into action. Environmental organizations filed a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) about how PJM made ratepayers pay extra for otherwise retiring coal plants, but then ignored them in the capacity auction, falsely reducing supply. Consumer advocates supported that complaint and added our own, where we argued, among other things, that PJM wasn\u2019t counting the contribution of many renewables either. PJM changed its rules for the better in response to these complaints. Gov. Shapiro of Pennsylvania also brought a complaint to FERC, saying that the normal price cap of $500 per MW-day should be lowered until the interconnection queue starts working again. (Remember, a major factor for these high prices is PJM\u2019s interconnection queue delay). PJM and Gov. Shapiro agreed on a regional price cap of $329.17 per MW-day for the next two auctions. While there were other parts of the agreement that raised consumer advocate concerns, we supported the price cap.\u00a0 The most recent auction, setting prices that will take effect next June, hit the price cap negotiated by Gov. Shapiro. PJM did an analysis of what the clearing price would have been without the new price cap, and holding all else equal, the price cap saved consumers an estimated $2.9 billion. As a consumer advocate, we are relieved that there was a price cap that protected ratepayers from even worse outcomes, but are still frustrated that we got here in the first place. Why is the capacity price going up even more? Significant increases in demand, combined with a restriction in supply (the frozen interconnection queue), cause prices to go high.\u00a0 The biggest contributor to the price spike in this auction was large loads, such as data centers. They [&hellip;]","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-27_BRA_PPT-Inside-Lines-Body-Image.png","thumbnail_width":1073,"thumbnail_height":501}