Gov. Moore Joins Regional Governors To Protect Ratepayers And Strengthen Grid Reliability

NOTE: The Office of the Governor shared the following press release:

ANNAPOLIS — Governor Wes Moore joined a coalition of governors from across the PJM region, the grid that manages electricity for 65 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia, in calling for urgent action to protect families and businesses from rising energy costs driven by explosive data center growth.

In a letter to PJM Interconnection, the governors sent a clear message: the companies fueling the surge in electricity demand, particularly large data centers built by some of the world’s largest corporations, should bear those costs, not the households and small businesses already struggling with high utility bills.

“Marylanders should not be asked to subsidize the soaring energy demands of large new data centers,” said Gov. Moore. “As we work to build an affordable and reliable energy future, we need rules that protect families and businesses, strengthen the grid, and ensure that the biggest new contributors to growth pay their fair share.”

Across the PJM region, electricity costs have been rising sharply. A major driver is the capacity market, the system that pays power plants in advance to be available when demand spikes. In recent years, capacity costs have surged more than tenfold, jumping from roughly $29 per megawatt-day to over $333 per megawatt-day. Those increases flow directly into the monthly bills that Maryland families and businesses pay.

Much of the demand growth is being driven by massive new data centers across the PJM region. These facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity, and when they connect to the grid without adequate planning, ratepayers can end up paying more to keep the lights on.

“Data centers spur economic growth for our state, but to ensure fairness, the expenses for building and operating them need to be covered by the companies that will profit from them,” said Maryland Energy Administration Director Kelly Speakes-Backman. “This administration is committed to finding ways to enhance our infrastructure and shield Maryland families from undue costs. With proper planning, we can most certainly achieve both goals.”

The governors’ letter sets out several key principles for PJM as it designs a reliability backstop auction, a process to make sure there is enough power available to keep the grid running safely as demand grows. Those principles include:

• Cost responsibility for data centers. New large-load customers, such as data centers, should pay for the capacity resources needed to meet their demand rather than spreading those costs across all ratepayers.
• Guarding against stranded costs. Strong protections to make sure that if a data center project falls through or downsizes, existing customers are not stuck paying for infrastructure that is no longer needed.
• Shielding consumers from inflated prices. The letter thanks PJM for extending a capacity market price collar that has already saved ratepayers an estimated $13 billion in avoided costs, and urges continued consumer protections.
• A connect-and-manage approach. Data centers could connect to the grid on the condition that they agree to reduce their grid consumption when reliability is at risk, rather than forcing the grid to overbuild at everyone’s expense.
• Flexible eligibility for new resources. Rules should be broad enough to bring new clean generation and storage online in time for the 2027–2028 delivery year, without locking out innovative solutions.
• State collaboration. PJM should work directly with the 13 PJM states and D.C. as they develop their own laws and regulations to prevent data center costs from being shifted onto consumers.

Governor Moore has made energy affordability a defining priority of his administration and remains a driving force behind the PJM Governors’ Collaborative, advocating for ratepayer relief and demanding governance reforms that increase transparency and responsiveness to ratepayers.

During the 2026 Maryland legislative session, Governor Moore, alongside Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, announced the Utility RELIEF Act, comprehensive legislation to lower bills, strengthen consumer protections, and require large-load customers to pay for their own grid infrastructure upgrades. The administration has consistently argued that data center developers backed by some of the world’s most profitable companies should not be allowed to shift their costs onto Maryland families.

At the state, regional, and federal levels, Governor Moore has advocated for capacity market reforms, price protections, and changes to cost allocation to limit the impact of skyrocketing electricity costs on Maryland families and businesses.