Wire · founder news, decoded · operational-macro
PJM power grid auction hits price limit, falls short of reliability goal
PJM's capacity auction hit its temporary price cap of $325/MWday for the second consecutive year, falling short of reliability requirements as data centre demand outpaces power supply across the 13-state Mid-Atlantic and Midwest grid. Capacity prices have surged over 1,000% since 2024, raising utility bills for one in five Americans, whilst the grid now carries increased blackout risk during peak demand.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Cloud Infrastructure. Wire is Fusion42's founder-focused intelligence feed: each story is connected to the funds and startups it names — every one with a live profile on Raise or Scout — so founders can follow the capital and the momentum behind the headline rather than just the headline itself. Wire analysis is one of the live surfaces Arthur, Fusion42's AI co-founder, reasons over.
The Wire takeaway
If you're building data centres or energy-intensive compute in the Mid-Atlantic or Midwest, the grid operator just signalled it cannot keep pace with demand and is rationing supply through price caps rather than building capacity. You now have 18 months to secure direct power contracts or relocate before 2028, when the current price ceiling expires and blackout risk becomes real.
Read the full story at reuters.com →
Topics: Cloud Infrastructure · grid-capacity · data-centre-demand · power-supply · reliability-gap · energy-infrastructure