Maryland’s OPC accuses grid operator of overcharging residents

The Maryland Office of the People’s Council has filed complaints against PJM, our region’s grid operator, for inappropriately and unfairly spiking energy costs. Reported by Inside Climate News, the OPC claims that PJM is giving preference to utilities and generators at the cost of consumers. Some households could see their bills just by 19% just from energy cost, not including distribution fees from their utilities.

PJM’s excuse? The energy cost of data centers and other large projects. The OPC points out that regular customers should not be paying for the high energy needs of data centers in Virginia and other locals. Additionally, they called PJM’s analysis flawed: the grid operator omitted two Maryland power plants from their math that are still in production. This was one factor that led to an 833% MW-day price increase from PJM’s last auction.

Multiple groups have accused PJM of slow-walking interconnection, leaving renewable projects outside the grid and hurting consumers. A private company, PJM has also lets gas-fired power plants skip the queue, even though renewable projects are often cheaper to connect, with some projects waiting six years to be connected to the grid.