ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore today joined a coalition of governors at the White House to sign a Statement of Principles calling for urgent reforms to the PJM Interconnection market, which provides bulk electricity to Maryland. The agreement, signed by fellow PJM governors, outlines a coordinated strategy to incentivize new power generation, protect residential customers from price increases, and ensure that data centers pay for the generation investments they drive.
“I have been crystal clear: We cannot build a 21st-century economy on an energy market that blocks new supply,” said Gov. Moore. “This moment calls for urgency. Maryland families and businesses must be served by a reliable grid without shouldering the cost of sky-high energy bills.”
Amid nationwide spikes in energy costs, the Statement of Principles urges the PJM Board to adopt specific measures in its upcoming filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The proposal focuses on pushing PJM to adopt cost-cutting measures to ensure data centers pay their fair share for the increased generation investments needed to supply their energy consumption.
The joint proposal includes three primary pillars to stabilize the energy market:
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Protecting Customers: As the costs to incentivize new generation are currently driving unacceptable increases in customers’ bills while new projects are stalled in the PJM queue, the coalition is pushing PJM to freeze these costs until the end of the decade, while new reforms are implemented to shield residents.
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Shifting Costs to Data Centers: The plan explicitly assigns the costs of new generation to the data centers driving the demand for new generation. The statement urges PJM to allocate the cost of new energy production infrastructure to data centers through specialized utility rates, shielding residents and businesses from these higher rates. Data centers that bring their own generation or agree to be curtailed during periods of high stress on the grid would be exempt from these costs.
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Incentivizing New Generation: The proposal calls for a “Reliability Backstop Auction” to be held no later than September 2026. Unlike standard auctions, this mechanism would offer 15-year price certainty to drive the rapid construction of new, reliable power generation.
The agreement also calls on PJM to accelerate the study of pending energy projects, specifically targeting Transition Cycle #2, to clear the backlog of generators waiting to connect to the grid. The principles aim to reduce interconnection timelines to 150 days or less, providing certainty for developers and speeding up the deployment of new energy resources.
Today’s announcement builds on Governor Moore’s leadership in advocating for fair energy prices and grid reliability. As part of the Northeast States Collaborative, the Moore-Miller Administration issued a request for information in June 2025 seeking project recommendations to improve grid reliability and reduce electricity costs. The initiative focused on identifying potential interregional transmission opportunities that support economic growth while relieving cost burdens on Marylanders.
Maryland joined eight other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states last year to form the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission. This first-of-its-kind partnership was established to identify specific steps policymakers can take to reduce costs for consumers through better interregional transmission planning.
Governor Moore also sent a letter to the PJM Board of Managers urging the operator to adjust capacity market rules and lower the price cap ahead of the 2026/2027 auction. In partnership with the governors of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Delaware, and New Jersey, Governor Moore advocated for temporary modifications to prevent prices from reaching unjust levels.
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