Learn More About Your Energy Bill

PJM is a powerful private corporation, run by a board, that controls the electrical grid for 65 million people across all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

PJM controls how power is produced, transmitted to utility companies, and distributed to homes and businesses in those 13 states. It’s also PJM’s job to improve economic efficiency and reliability, and to provide its service without discrimination. PJM is overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Every year, PJM holds an auction meant to ensure it has enough capacity to meet predicted energy demand three years in the future, particularly during peak demand, such as hot summer afternoons when air conditioners are constantly running. These auctions have favored the production and delivery of more expensive energy sources. Their actions increase utility profits by keeping prices artificially inflated, ultimately hurting all consumers..

Starting June 1, 2025, experts estimate that electric bills will increase by 10% to 20% across PJM states due to the results of the July 2024 capacity auction, which saw its cost for ensuring reliability shoot up from $2.2 billion in 2023 to $14.7 billion. These record-breaking prices are an  800% increase over the prior year, hitting middle- and low-income families the hardest and highlighting the urgent need for reform.

Your bill is rising because PJM and local utilities have favored more expensive electricity sources for their benefit at your expense.

They have primarily done this in two ways:

• They have promoted over-reliance on methane (“natural”) gas to power our electrical grid. This is in spite of the fact that gas is unreliable in extreme weather and prone to global market fluctuations that cause huge jumps in the price, which get passed on to you as higher monthly bills.

• They have created a backlog in connecting reliable, affordable energy projects to the grid. As many as 95% of renewable energy projects like wind, solar, and battery storage—thousands of resources—are ready to go but aren’t being tapped as energy sources because of PJM’s delays. The scope of this problem is huge and unacceptable: As of early 2025, PJM’s queue connection wait time is 5+ years, and the queue is frozen to new applicants until 2026. This puts PJM far behind the rest of the U.S. in utilizing renewable energy sources. PJM’s mismanagement of the electric grid is set to spike electric bills by almost 60 percent over the next 10 to 15 years.

Yes, they can. So far, they have chosen not to.

PJM should take three actions:

• Reform the waiting line for projects by improving the way reliable, affordable energy resources are approved and connected to the grid. 
  

• Build out transmission lines connecting clean projects to the grid faster.
  

• Revise market rules so that any clean energy resources connected to the grid are correctly counted as new capacity, lowering costs for consumers.

Raise your voice! Public pressure is the only way PJM will prioritize affordable, reliable energy solutions that keep the lights on and your bills lower. Join the fight to get more information on how to get involved in your state.

Contact your legislator to let them know you want accountability on PJM and cleaner, cheaper energy.