INSIGHTSSERIES
Power & Utilities | Wholesale Markets
July 20, 2026
PJM Capacity Auction Highlights Supply-Demand Imbalance Amid Large Load Growth
A third consecutive auction at the price cap underscores that capacity additions continue to lag demand growth, even as PJM advances market, planning, and interconnection reforms.
PJM Interconnection LLC’s capacity market auction for the 2028/2029 delivery year left the grid operator about 6,800 megawatts (MW) short of its reliability requirement, marking the second…Read the full report
Key Takeaways
- The largest U.S. grid operator’s capacity auction for the 2028/2029 delivery year fell short of its reliability requirement by roughly 6.8 GW, larger than the 6.6 GW gap in the prior auction.
- The auction cleared at the FERC-approved price cap of $325 per MW-day, the third consecutive auction held with a price collar to reduce volatility of clearing prices and decrease uncertainty around market revenues.
- The results reinforce concerns that demand keeps outpacing new resource additions, leaving reliability pressures unresolved, and come amid PJM reforms targeting supply-demand imbalance fueled by data center growth.
