Governors from across the 13-state PJM power grid have formally launched a joint body to push the grid operator on rising electricity costs. For roughly 67 million people in the region, the move won’t cut bills right away, but it could shape how much they pay from 2028 onward.

Key takeaways

• At a summit in Chicago on Oct. 8, governors from the PJM region signed a memorandum of understanding creating the PJM Governors’ Collaborative.
• The group wants a bigger say for states and consumers in PJM’s market rules. Capacity prices there have stayed at or near a federally approved cap for three auctions in a row.
• Nothing changes on your bill this month. Capacity costs already built into 2026–27 rates stay, and the next big test is how future auctions and rule changes play out.

What happened

PJM Interconnection runs the wholesale electricity market and high-voltage grid for all or part of 13 states, from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Illinois, plus Washington, D.C. On Thursday, Oct. 8, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker hosted the second annual Governors’ Summit on the State of PJM in Chicago. According to his office, the governors unanimously signed a memorandum of understanding that formally set up the PJM Governors’ Collaborative, a bipartisan group.

The collaborative is a forum, not a regulator. According to the Illinois governor’s office and reporting by the Jersey Vindicator, member states will share information and technical analysis, review PJM proposals, and, where they agree, take joint positions in front of PJM, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state utility commissions. Each state names an official to represent it. States can still go their own way on any issue. If PJM approves governance reforms, the group could also take on formal roles, such as nominating people to PJM’s board-selection committee. No budget has been announced.

Cost is the reason behind the move. In PJM’s capacity market, power plants are paid to be available during peak demand. Prices there jumped about 833% in the auction for the 2025–26 delivery year and have stayed high ever since. The July 2026 auction, for June 2028 to May 2029, cleared at $325 per megawatt-day. That is the maximum allowed under a price collar approved by FERC. The auction cost $16.4 billion and still came in 6,831 megawatts short of PJM’s reliability target. PJM estimated that without the cap, prices would have reached about $555. PJM points to fast demand growth, much of it from data centers, along with plant retirements and delays connecting new generation.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said PJM has been “too slow to bring new generation online and too quick to saddle families with higher bills,” according to the Jersey Vindicator. The reports we reviewed did not include a response from PJM.

What it means for your bill

Capacity is one line inside the “supply” or “generation” part of your bill, so a big jump in capacity prices doesn’t raise your total bill by the same percentage. Your share depends on your household’s peak load contribution, a figure your utility sets based on how much power you use during the grid’s busiest hours. Here is a rough illustration using real prices and one stated assumption.

• Your total bill: Maryland’s average residential price was 21.77¢/kWh in May 2026 (EIA data, reported by the Maryland PSC). A home using 900 kWh a month pays about 900 × $0.2177 = $196.
• Capacity at today’s capped price: $325 per MW-day is $0.325 per kW-day. If we assume a 2 kW peak load contribution: 2 × $0.325 × 30 days = about $19.50 a month, roughly 10% of the bill.
• Capacity at the old price: the 2024–25 auction cleared at $28.92 per MW-day, so the same home paid about 2 × $0.0289 × 30 = $1.74.
• Difference: about $17–18 a month, or around $210 a year, for that example household.

Your real number will be different. Utilities buy power for standard-offer customers through contracts that blend several auctions. Peak load contributions vary widely, and states pass costs through in different ways. When the 2026–27 auction results came out, PJM estimated a bill impact of 1.5% to 5% for most customers. In the short term, the collaborative doesn’t lower any of these numbers. Its potential effect is longer term, through how hard states push for more supply, for price caps to stay in place, and for large new users like data centers to pay their share.

What you can do

• Find the supply line on your bill. Look for the “price to compare” or generation rate. Our guide on how to read your electric bill shows where it is.
• Cut usage at peak times. Your capacity obligation is set by your usage during summer peak hours, so shifting big loads such as laundry, dishwashing and EV charging away from hot summer afternoons and early evenings can help over time. Read our explainer on time-of-use rates.
• Shop carefully if your state allows retail choice. Compare fixed-rate offers with your utility’s price to compare, and watch for introductory rates that jump later.
• Follow your state’s filings. Utility commissions and consumer advocates publish upcoming supply-rate changes, usually ahead of each June 1 reset.

Sources

• Office of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: Governors formalize collective to hold PJM accountable (Oct. 8, 2026)
• Jersey Vindicator: Governors unite to demand accountability from PJM (Oct. 10, 2026)
• WMAR-2 News: Gov. Moore joins multistate collaborative (Oct. 8, 2026)
• Renewable Energy World: PJM capacity auction hits price cap again (July 2026)
• Maryland PSC: Report on residential retail electricity prices (July 2026)
• WHYY: PJM auction and bill impacts in Pa., Del., N.J. (July 2025)

Written by The Daily Economy editorial team with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Read our editorial policy.