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Power & grid · Part 13 · settles Dec 9 · 47 days

Will PJM's December 2026 capacity auction for 2029 to 2030 clear below the price cap set for that auction?

How it settles

Yes if PJM's published results for the Base Residual Auction for the 2029 2030 delivery year show the RTO wide clearing price below the price cap in effect for that auction. PJM Interconnection, Base Residual Auction results report for 2029/2030 (pjm.com, Reliability Pricing Model)

The exact question and the full rule

Does PJM's Base Residual Auction for the 2029/2030 delivery year, scheduled for December 9, 2026, clear the RTO-wide capacity price below the price cap in effect for that auction?

Read from PJM's published results report. The answer is yes if the RTO-wide clearing price is below the cap in effect for the auction; no if it clears at the cap. This test decides only the price leg of the second exit from the house's view; the rule on large loads bringing their own capacity is read separately in the story.

If the source is late or silent: An auction postponed past January 31, 2027, or results not posted by that date, is inconclusive. A clearing below the cap only because the cap or the demand curve was changed after October 10, 2026 is inconclusive, and the Result says what was read and what was missing.

If no

The bill no state can shield

Wholesale capacity scarcity reaches every bill regardless of state rules, supporting a clearing price at the cap again.

If yes

The plant is late

New supply keeps arriving later than planned, which supports the price clearing at the cap rather than below it.

50%
NoYes

No position, no money. The crowd, the Call and the machines appear after you lock your number.

The case · 20 people · 2 minutes
The bill no state can shield7 people argue nounsided7The plant is late6 people argue yes
Stronger if no · 7 people

The bill no state can shield

The PJM capacity auction price for mid-Atlantic grid generation cleared at $269.92 per megawatt-day in July 2024, up 9x from the previous auction's $28.92, with all subsequent auctions clearing at administrative price caps.

Stronger if yes · 6 people

The plant is late

Reyk KnuhtsenJun 18 · 2 claims

ERCOT illustrates phantom demand: as of April 2026 it was assessing more than 410 GW of large-load interconnection requests, over 87% from datacenters, against a Texas all-time peak of about 85 GW, and they count 311 GW of that as phantom…

A side · 7 people

The load pays its way

NRG argues that because the funding a large load customer must supply to bring new generation greatly exceeds the $50,000/MW security amount, concerns about whether the large load can meet financial commitments are easily satisfied under BYOG…

Strongest against the CallVirginia State Corporation Commission · Dec 15

Taking action specific to the PJM region appears to the VSCC to be both premature and potentially harmful, to the extent it conflicts with later guidance through the NOPR process, since the ANOPR already frames whether and how hybrid loads…

What would change the Call
  • The RTO-wide clearing price PJM publishes for the 2029 to 2030 auction, compared to that auction's price cap, decides this.
The Call · Part 13 · The bill no state can shield

Data centers pay for their own wires. The higher capacity price their demand sets lands first on every PJM household's bill.

The dossier · 5 minutes
The machines' reasons

3 models ran this one. Their numbers and reasons appear after you lock yours.

The Part

The Ratepayer Pays First

Households in the nine jurisdictions PJM serves paid a median 11.7% more per kilowatt-hour over the year to July than the year before, against 5.6% elsewhere. Data center builders tell regulators they pay their own way. PJM's market monitor told them no state commission can shield households from the capacity price their demand sets.

Chart: Who pays the power bill first · Data Desk