Electrical grid operator PJM members votes against proposal to help rein in data center energy costs

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. - Electrical grid operator PJM’s members voted against a proposal that would have offered key incentives for data centers and potentially lower energy costs for customers on Wednesday. 

Ultimately, members voted to stick with the status quo concerning data centers, which could increase electric bills for customers. 

This comes as lawmakers across the region are urging electrical grid operators to do more to curb customers' energy bills. Now, the group that oversees electricity in our region will decide its next steps.

What we know:

Data centers are popping up all over the DMV and along with that, there has been an increase in nearby residents’ energy bills. 

PJM is the electrical grid operator for Maryland, Virginia, D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania and several other states. 

The proposal being voted on Wednesday would have offered incentives to the data center companies if they provided their own power source instead of depending on the utility grid, which would help keep energy costs down for those living in the area. 

The proposal overwhelmingly failed by double with 31 voting for it, and 67 against. Now it’s back to the drawing board. 

Big picture view:

PJM says its goal is to "preserve grid reliability for the 67 million people it serves while managing the integration of data centers and other large electricity users onto the system."

Even so, FOX 5 spoke with a resident concerned about the booming data center development and he says he’s not convinced there’s a solution once the data centers are here.

"We hear a lot of things trying to sound like they are mitigating the issue, but I don’t see anything official and the power source is not really the problem," Dumfries resident Dr. Michael Slayter said. 

PJM says it has received several different proposals, calling the issue important. The group plans to go through all the information and data to determine what takes place next. 

What they're saying:

PJM released a statement to FOX 5 following the vote on Wednesday. 

"The voting at today’s Special Members Committee – Critical Issue Fast Path meeting resulted in none of the 12 proposal packages obtaining a requisite "passing" vote.

PJM opened this conversation about the integration of large loads and greatly appreciates our stakeholders for their contributions to this effort. The stakeholder process produced many thoughtful proposals, some of which were introduced late in the process and require additional development.

This vote is advisory to PJM’s independent Board. The Board can and does expect to act on large load additions to the system and will make its decision known in the next few weeks.

For your information, the official voting results will be verified and posted by Noon tomorrow on the Nov. 19 Special Members Committee page under meeting materials, in addition to executive summaries of all 12 proposal packages."