Christine Ho, christine.ho@sierraclub.org
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - Today, Sierra Club largely supported a new proposal from the nation’s largest grid operator, PJM, to hold Big Tech’s artificial intelligence data centers accountable for their own power generation and electricity costs, but asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make four modifications that will ensure that the filing lives up to its promise.
In PJM’s Interim Resource Adequacy Service proposal, the grid operator is requiring large load customers—such as data centers—to bring their own energy so as to not threaten reliability for PJM’s 67 million customers. The proposal requires that data centers that do not bring their own power generation reductions before household customers in the case of an emergency. Sierra Club’s proposed modifications strengthen PJM’s proposal and ensure that data centers who do not bring their own generation do not receive a financial windfall at the expense of household customers.
Sierra Club has pushed for durable policy reform within PJM that meaningfully offers the regional grid operator a chance to modernize and respond appropriately to the litany of challenges faced by the electric sector.
The IRAS proposal is largely aligned with what the Sierra Club has been pushing PJM to adopt. In December, 14 Sierra Club Chapter Directors sent a letter to PJM demanding more guardrails around how data centers are powered and who is paying for the energy. Sierra Club also recently attended the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s technical conference to advocate for stronger ratepayer protections.
In response, Sierra Club Senior Attorney Justin Vickers issued the following statement:
“We are glad to see PJM take meaningful steps towards protecting ratepayers and strengthening grid reliability. The proposals in the Interim Resource Adequacy Service will help address the massive demand brought by data centers, and how this demand is causing skyrocketing energy bills for customers in the region. Our proposed modifications will ensure that the filing lives up to its ambitious goals. The Sierra Club has been pushing for reforms like the ones PJM is finally taking action to deliver, and we hope to see these guardrails implemented to improve the lives of PJM’s customers.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.