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PJM board lays out reforms to integrate hyperscale loads; states invited into forecasting and siting role
Summary
PJM on Jan. 16 outlined actions — defining large loads at 50 MW+, tightened load-forecast rules, an expedited interconnection track, an extended price collar and a reliability backstop procurement — and said state regulators should review large-load submissions. The board’s plans aim to preserve reliability while steering costs to new large loads.
PJM’s Board of Managers on Jan. 16 released a set of actions intended to manage the rapid growth of hyperscale data centers and other “large loads,” and invited state regulatory participation in the process.
"Large load additions will be defined as 50 megawatts or greater at a single point of interconnection," Lori Murphy Lee, senior manager for regulatory and legislative affairs at PJM, told a joint Delaware committee. She said PJM will require stronger evidence of a project’s commercial commitment before counting it in the long-term forecast and will offer states an opportunity to review submissions and provide feedback.
Why it matters: PJM serves 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia, and recent long-term reliability assessments and regional reports show tighter reserve margins and growing risk of shortfalls as demand accelerates. Murphy Lee said PJM has about 57 gigawatts of projects with signed agreements ready to be built, but many remain unbuilt.
Key board measures include load-forecast reform to exclude speculative projects unless developers show verifiable commitments; an expedited interconnection track to fast-track shovel-ready resources (targeted to be in place by August 2026); extension of the capacity market price collar for two more auctions; a study and potential filing for a reliability backstop procurement to secure new generation; and a ‘‘connect-and-manage’’ framework that would allow large loads to interconnect while requiring on-site generation or curtailment arrangements so they are curtailed before residential customers during pre-emergency conditions.
Murphy Lee said the board’s package will involve filings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, immediate policy and procedural changes, and stakeholder processes to address complex issues. She acknowledged PJM does not own generation or transmission and is acting in a coordinating capacity.
State role and next steps: PJM and a recent White House and governors’ statement both emphasized that only projects with meaningful financial commitments should be included in forecasts. Murphy Lee said PJM may engage a third-party review of forecasts and will adopt reforms in its 2027 load forecast. The board also proposes workshops and potential filings with FERC this year to enable a reliability backstop procurement.
"PJM is working to bring new supply online as quickly as possible," Murphy Lee said, noting reforms to the interconnection queue and efforts to accelerate study timelines, including pilot AI efficiencies with industry partners.
What Delaware faces: The board’s package creates several decision points for states such as Delaware — how to review large-load submissions, whether to require financial commitments or binding curtailment clauses, and how to allocate transmission and capacity costs. The PJM plan explicitly contemplates an expanded role for state regulators in validating load additions.
The committee received the PJM presentation as background for potential state policy choices, including whether to require large loads to bring on-site generation, adopt large-load tariffs, or pursue siting or fiscal measures at the state level. The committee did not take action at the hearing; presenters and PJM staff said they would be available for follow-up questions.
