PJM Projects $6.3 Billion Power Cost Hike From Data Centers Over 3 Years

3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Jul 26

$6.3 billion in higher consumer electricity costs over the next three years will be driven mostly by rising data-center demand, PJM said in a new projection.
That warning cuts against a recent EPRI working paper, which found data centers lowered retail power prices through 2024: every doubling of capacity was linked to a 3.5% average decline, and about 6% at the state level.
The earlier price benefit came from spreading grid fixed costs across more electricity use and bringing more efficient generators online, but researchers said that dynamic could reverse if utilities build for AI demand that fails to materialize.
Virginia already shows the pressure point: residential electricity prices in the biggest U.S. data-center state have risen more than 13% in the past year, even as AI infrastructure spending is expected to reach $7 trillion by 2030.