Gov. Murphy: “PJM has lost the plot.”
Gov. Moore, “I am angry.”
Gov. Shapiro: “I do not think PJM is serving the good people of Pennsylvania well.”

In new interviews with The New York Times, the governors of New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania called out PJM Interconnection, the largest electric grid operator in the U.S., as one of the “main reasons utility bills have soared” for the 65 million Americans who depend on it. Even though it's the cheapest and fastest energy to build, PJM has been “slow to add” renewables while prioritizing more expensive, more polluting gas plants.

Despite PJM’s claim that it “has no profit motive,” the governors pointed to PJM’s governance system, which allows profit-driven interests to shape critical decisions. Decisions such as “whether to make it easier or harder for new power projects to join the grid,” ultimately benefit entrenched players who profit from artificial scarcity and inflated prices.

The Times also debunked PJM’s claim, noting that most of its 1,000+ voting members, including utilities, power plant companies, transmission line owners, and energy traders, have a “direct financial stake” in the grid operator’s decisions. Skyrocketing energy bills are not inevitable—they are the result of policy failures that prioritize corporate profits over ratepayers.


ICYMI: The New York Times: As Energy Costs Surge, Eastern Governors Blame a Grid Manager

By Ivan Penn
June 10, 2025

Key Points:

• For decades, a little-known nonprofit organization has played a central role in keeping the lights on for 65 million people in the Eastern United States.
  
  
• But now some elected leaders have concluded that decisions made by PJM are one of the main reasons utility bills have soared in recent years. They said the organization had been slow to add new solar, wind and battery projects that could help lower the cost of electricity. And they say the grid manager is paying existing power plants too much to supply electricity to their states.
  
  
• Some governors have been so incensed that they have sued PJM, drafted or signed laws to force changes at the organization, or threatened to pull their states out of the regional electric grid.
  
  
• The Democratic governors of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania sharply criticized the organization in recent interviews with The New York Times and in written statements. And the Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, called on the organization to fire its chief executive in a letter obtained by The Times.
  
  
• “PJM has lost the plot,” Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said in an interview. In another interview, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland said about PJM, “I am angry.”
  
  
• The elected leaders — some of whom may run for president in 2028 — and their aides said PJM’s executives, board members and committees made many important decisions in secret. And too many decisions, like whether to make it easier or harder for new power projects to join the grid, effectively benefit established energy companies at the expense of residents and businesses that use electricity.
  
  
• PJM has a nine-member board of managers, all of whom have worked in the energy industry or in other senior corporate jobs. It also has more than 1,000 voting members, most of which are utilities, power plant companies, transmission line owners and energy traders.
  
  
• Most of those voting members have a direct financial stake in the organization’s decisions. Members typically vote on policies and issues. Some of the meetings are public, but others, including smaller committee meetings where preliminary decisions are made, are not.
  
  
• “What the problem is at PJM is that it is controlled and influenced by the corporate energy companies that constitute its membership,” said Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at Public Citizen, a nonprofit research and consumer group started by Ralph Nader. “It puts energy company lobbyists in the driver’s seat at PJM.”
  
  
• The time it takes to add new sources of electricity is critical because demand for energy is growing rapidly. PJM’s territory includes northern Virginia, which has the country’s largest collection of data centers. Technology companies want to add many data centers in other PJM states, particularly Ohio and Pennsylvania.
  
  
• In December, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania sued PJM after the grid manager conducted an annual auction in which power plant owners submit the price they are offering to supply energy when demand surges, which often happens in summer. The prices set by the auction would have resulted in big price increases for electricity users. The highest bid in the auction contributes to the final price PJM sets for all generators, meaning even power plant owners willing to accept less money would be paid the higher prices.
  
  
• The state and PJM reached a settlement that caps the price set by the auction. Mr. Shapiro said the deal would save Pennsylvanians $21 billion over two years.

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