The PJM capacity auction this month broke records with sky-high wholesale power prices — and that was by design. Under PJM’s auction rules, tight supply raises prices, incentivizing the development of new generation and encouraging existing generation to stay online. The big driver of that tight supply? Data-center driven load growth. The independent system operator covers Virginia, one of the densest and fastest-growing regions for data center development.

So will higher wholesale prices incentivize enough generation to meet load growth without provoking the public with higher bills?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Steve Piper, research director of North American power and renewables at S&P Global. Steve and Shayle cover topics like:

Why Steve says PJM and other stakeholders became concerned that low prices weren’t incentivizing enough generation to stay on the market
Why ISOs upping resource adequacy requirements across technologies, while raising targets for reserve margins
The bottlenecks slowing down the development of new generation
What’s holding back demand response in the auction

Resources:

Latitude Media: Will Pennsylvania be the nation’s AI-energy model?
PJM: PJM Auction Procures 134,311 MW of Generation Resources; Supply Responds to Price Signal
Utility Dive: PJM capacity prices set another record with 22% jump

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by Anza, a solar and energy storage development and procurement platform helping clients make optimal decisions, saving significant time, money, and reducing risk. Subscribers instantly access pricing, product, and supplier data. Learn more at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude.

Catalyst is supported by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform by visiting energyhub.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

#71 The numbers with Ben Horning