The December 2025 capacity auction for the 2027/2028 delivery year cleared at US$333.44-per-MW-day—the FERC-approved price cap—for the third consecutive year, representing a 1,053% increase from the 2024/2025 auction, which cleared at just US$28.92-per-MW-day.
The total cost reached US$16.4 billion, with data centres accounting for US$6.5 billion (40%) of that total. Of that US$6.5 billion, US$6.2 billion was attributed to data centres not yet built.
According to projections from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), average households in PJM could see bill increases of roughly US$70-per-month by 2028 compared to pre-surge levels. In Washington, D.C., customers of ustility Pepco saw US$10-per-month added to bills from the 2025/2026 delivery year alone.
The two-part plan
Part 1: Reliability backstop procurement (RBP)
