# Data centers drive 63% of PJM's power-price surge as backlash hardens
> Wholesale power on the largest US grid nearly doubled year-over-year; states impose large-load tariffs while a foreign-influence subplot complicates the politics

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-12 · heads: أموال من, ما لا يقولونه · 4 takes · 4 lenses · 1 regions

## Summary

Wholesale power on [Pjm](/ar/entity/pjm) averaged $136.53/MWh in Q1 2026, up from $77.78 a year earlier;
market monitor Monitoring Analytics attributed 63% of the rise to [data-center](/ar/entity/data-centers)
load — roughly $9.3bn in added ratepayer costs. Capacity prices climbed from $28.92/MW-day
(2024/25) toward $329/MW-day (2026/27). As of May 2026, 23 states had approved large-load
tariffs; Pennsylvania adopted a model tariff for customers above 50MW. Microsoft and
Anthropic pledged to cover their own price impacts. A parallel NPR investigation reported
Chinese state outlets amplifying US data-center opposition while Beijing subsidises its own
facilities' energy costs.

## Why it matters

AI compute is now an industrial-scale [Electricity](/ar/entity/electricity) buyer reshaping bills for 67 million
people and forcing a state-by-state fight over who pays for the grid — the real, physical
cost of the AI buildout.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### energy policy
- **E&E News** (US, en) — Quantifies data centers' share of PJM price increases and ratepayer exposure, framing it as a structural grid-supply shortfall.
  > "Data centers drive a 76% surge in PJM power prices."
  Source: https://www.eenews.net/articles/data-centers-drive-76-surge-in-pjm-power-prices/

### state government
- **Stateline** (US, en) — Surveys 300-plus state bills and tariff actions shifting costs onto data centers; centres ratepayer protection.
  > "With electricity bills rising, some states consider new data center laws."
  Source: https://stateline.org/2026/02/05/with-electricity-bills-rising-some-states-consider-new-data-center-laws/

### foreign-influence investigation
- **NPR** (US, en) — Reports Chinese state media campaigning against US AI data centers while Beijing subsidises domestic ones; complicates the populist framing.
  > "Chinese state outlets amplify US data-center opposition while Beijing subsidises its own."
  Source: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/10/nx-s1-5844328/us-china-data-centers-foreign-influence

### clean-energy trade
- **Canary Media** (US, en) — Frames record PJM capacity costs as a supply-side failure to add generation; argues the grid, not just demand, is the binding constraint.
  > "PJM's capacity costs hit a record as the grid falls short on supply."
  Source: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/data-centers/pjm-record-capacity-costs-rising-bills

## Across the graph
- Entities: United States, Pjm, Data Centers, Electricity

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