Want to understand why your electric bill keeps rising? Here's your explainer.

By Tracy Slack As Delaware responds to the constant and significant challenges facing our state’s energy supply, your Sierra Club Delaware Chapter is proud to be a voice of reason and common sense.  Opportunities to diversify Delaware’s energy mix have come under attack by legacy fossil fuel interests and the Trump administration.  We say it is time to dis that insidious disinformation campaign if we want to position Delaware for tomorrow and rein in your spiraling energy costs.

PJM, the regional electricity transmission organization serving 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia, is at the heart of Delaware’s energy landscape.  It ensures the reliability and security of wholesale electricity supply throughout the region.  And, because PJM also decides the order in which new electricity generation projects are allowed to go forward and connect to the regional grid, they wield enormous influence over our total energy mix and, by extension, both wholesale and retail energy costs.  This list of new generation projects is affectionately known as the “interconnection queue,” and as of April 2026 there were a whopping 811 projects awaiting consideration and approval.

So, just how does PJM wade through all these projects and decide who goes next?  Since PJM’s actions drive your energy costs, you should have insight into how they pick projects.  You’re not alone – PJM is monitored and regulated by FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), and FERC also has concerns about PJM’s management and transparency!  

At first glance, PJM’s new process for project selection sounds pretty sensible; they favor the projects that are “more advanced and better positioned to move forward.”  Let’s peel back that onion a little bit, however, because what’s important are some factors that PJM may not consider.  If PJM really thinks that speed to market is the only thing that matters, then consider these two examples:

• These 811 projects waiting in the queue include a dozen different fuel sources and technologies; everything from old “favorites” like natural gas to storage technology to solar and wind.  The fact that a renewables project might come online and then operate at a far lower cost per MWh than, say, a fossil fuels application is of no concern to PJM.  They want that new energy source connected into the regional grid ASAP, but if quicker translates into more expensive wholesale rates (and hence consumer rates) … PJM seemingly couldn’t care less.  That’s bad news for your electric bill.
• Suppose one of the project applicants is a data center-exclusive power plant initiative.  Those folks are swimming in venture capital, and so PJM would no doubt view them as a highly attractive project to expedite.  But what in blazes does that new power generation do for you and me, the consumer, when their first allegiance is to send that power supply to the data center’s power-hungry servers?  FERC is calling on the States to do what Delaware did just this year – ensure that data centers bring their own new power generation.  But other PJM member States haven’t done this yet, and you won’t see energy bill relief until all of PJM’s member States follow Delaware’s lead and make data centers bring their own electricity generation instead of siphoning it off the regional grid.

There’s one more important reason why PJM’s queue management practices merit more review – diversity of energy generation sources.   During PJM’s last capacity auction, they were shy of projected demand by about 6.8GW.  Meanwhile, the 45 combined solar/storage applications in the PJM queue would add an estimated 8.9GW of cheaper power to the grid once operational.  The 65 wind project applications also awaiting approval could add another 4.7GW.  These two renewable energy sources can fill needs of this size and are ready to connect, and yet the Trump administration has maneuvered to prevent such projects from advancing wherever possible. Trump has already blocked over 12GW of offshore wind in the permitting stages that would have connected into PJM directly, but had not yet entered the queue. 

Well … to be more precise … Trump wants to scuttle renewable energy projects wherever possible in blue states!  Why, look no further than Texas (a state Donald favors), whose ERCOT regional transmission grid faced a wholesale supply crisis during storm Uri in the winter of 2021.  Fast forward to the present, and ERCOT has since bolstered its grid’s capacity and its diversity admirably … using mostly renewable energy-sourced production.  ERCOT now boasts 31GW of solar, 17GW of battery storage, and 18GW of wind-powered electricity generation. Renewable, clean, and cheap sources of energy are saving the day, right smack dab in the middle of all that “beautiful” black gold crude oil Texas continues to pump out of the earth.  Rather ironic on several levels, isn’t it?!

Here’s how this all nets out.  PJM, the master of our region’s wholesale electricity supply, must let you, me, and FERC peek into its operations to see whether the diversity offered by renewables is sufficiently valued, and whether data center energy demands are preempting local consumer and business needs. We also need to be sure that fossil fuel interests are not unilaterally blocking PJM from taking action to bring on this new clean energy waiting to connect. Take a look at your state legislator’s views on the issue of PJM’s new generation project planning and demand better accountability and transparency from PJM.  Let them know you want them to fight for Delaware’s right to build out new renewable energy projects as robustly as possible.