WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth (MD-03) joined U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Representatives Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, Glenn Ivey, April McClain Delaney, and Johnny Olszewski (all D-Md.) in calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take action to ensure Marylanders are not forced to bear skyrocketing electricity costs due to increasing energy demand from data centers located outside of the state. The lawmakers urged FERC to require PJM Interconnection (PJM) to implement strong protections that would ensure fair energy costs for Marylanders after PJM, the grid operator responsible for coordinating electricity transmission in the region, assigned roughly $2 billion in costs to Maryland ratepayers for infrastructure that is needed primarily to serve out-of-state data centers. The lawmakers' letter supports a complaint at FERC filed by the Maryland Office of People's Counsel challenging PJM's existing transmission cost allocation rules.

"As members of the Maryland Congressional Delegation, we write regarding a pressing matter that has the potential to significantly raise energy costs for our constituents. PJM Interconnection LLC's (PJM) existing transmission cost allocation rules result in the unjust assignment of billions of dollars in costs to Marylanders, contributing to unaffordable electricity bills," the lawmakers begin.

On the rising costs of electricity due to data centers outside of Maryland, the lawmakers write, "Data centers being built outside of Maryland are driving one of the largest transmission expansions in PJM's history. Across its three most recent regional transmission planning rounds, PJM has advanced $22 billion in projects needed principally to serve data centers. Under PJM's current cost allocation rules, roughly $2 billion of those costs have been assigned to Maryland ratepayers rather than the data centers that are driving the demand."

"Marylanders are already shouldering the immense burden of skyrocketing electricity costs, and it is unjust and unreasonable to force our constituents to subsidize the energy infrastructure needs of the wealthiest companies in the world. Unless the Commission acts, our constituents will pay an estimated $1.6 billion on their electric bills over the next ten years for these projects alone, and $823 million of that total cost will fall on residential customers, which equates to roughly $345 for the average customer," the lawmakers continue.

On PJM's current cost allocation rules, the Maryland lawmakers note, "PJM's cost allocation rules have not kept pace with the build out of hyperscale data centers, just one of which can equal the electricity demand of a small city. PJM's current rules spread costs broadly across the region regardless of where, and for whom, the underlying projects are actually needed. Maryland regulators have no ability to assign such costs to data centers located in other states, and with tens of thousands of megawatts of additional data center demand growth projected across PJM over the next two decades, our constituents face billions of dollars in further charges absent Commission action to address this unjust and unreasonable cost allocation. Furthermore, because much of the forecasted growth in data center energy demand is speculative, our constituents bear the unacceptable risk of paying for projects built to serve potential data centers that are never built due to any number of external reasons."

"We urge the Commission to act expeditiously to provide relief from these costs for Maryland ratepayers, including as requested in OPC's complaint. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue that is essential to ensuring just and reasonable energy costs for our constituents," the lawmakers conclude.

The full text of the letter is available HERE.

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