PJM Releases Record-High Capacity Auction Results

Norristown, PA - Today, the regional transmission organization PJM released its 2025 capacity auction results, signaling a continuation of high energy prices for its 13-state service region.

This year, the capacity auction ended at the price cap of $329.17/MW-day, even higher than last year's record-breaking clearing price and more than 10 times higher than the clearing price from the 2024/2025 capacity auction. The cleared resource mix reflects PJM's clear preference towards fossil fuels, including 45 percent natural gas, 21 percent nuclear, 22 percent coal, 4 percent hydro, 3 percent wind and 1 percent solar.

PJM maintains that demand exceeding supply is causing the spike in electricity prices, despite the fact PJM has 210 GW of projects stuck in its queue, with about 95 percent of these being affordable, clean energy projects.

"At a time when families are already facing economic uncertainty, PJM's implicit preference for keeping dirty, expensive fossil generation online, rather than investing in the infrastructure and processes needed to bring affordable, clean energy projects online, forces our communities to keep paying record-high energy bills," said Jessi Eidbo, Sierra Club Senior Advisor. "PJM has failed our communities through its refusal to adopt substantive reforms, completely at odds with its mission of providing reliable energy at the lowest cost to its customers. Community members, advocates, and elected officials on both sides of the aisle have all made it clear: PJM must do better."

"The results of the PJM 2026/2027 capacity auction confirm that unfortunately, once again, families across the region will pay the price for PJM's mismanagement of our electric grid and obvious bias towards fossil fuels. It is unfair, unjust, and simply impractical for PJM to dig their heels further into dirty energy and delay progress while cheaper and cleaner energy projects are waiting to be plugged in," said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "In New Jersey alone, connecting the clean energy projects stuck in the queue would save families up to $405 per household each year. The solution, and PJM's failure to bring down costs for communities already struggling with this year's rate increases, could not be more clear. We need grid reform now."

"These high capacity prices reveal major flaws in PJM's model," said Josh Tulkin, Director for the Maryland Sierra Club. "Research shows that investments in energy efficiency and virtual power plants can help achieve our energy needs at much lower cost than fossil fuels. Clean energy alternatives like solar and storage can also be deployed more quickly to meet rising demand, something PJM has constantly said is one of the reasons for high costs. We hope this is a wake up call to PJM to try a different approach. Maryland ratepayers cannot keep holding the burden of PJM's outdated processes.We urge PJM and Maryland PSC to do everything in its power to mitigate the impacts."

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 https://www.sierraclub.org.