According to Business Insider, the independent market monitor for PJM, Monitoring Analytics, filed a formal complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on November 25. The complaint warns that PJM, which serves 65 million people across 13 states and D.C., is proposing to connect large new data center loads it cannot reliably serve. This could force “load curtailments,” or blackouts, for either the data centers or other customers. The monitor states that existing data center demand has already increased PJM’s capacity revenues by a staggering $16.6 billion over its last two auctions. PJM’s Board of Managers recently held a “Critical Issues” meeting on the topic but couldn’t reach an agreement, and a company spokesperson says the board is expected to act on the issue in the coming weeks.
The Basic Problem
Here’s the thing: the grid’s job is to keep the lights on. For everyone. And this complaint is essentially an alarm bell saying that priority is getting dangerously out of whack. The monitor’s argument is brutally simple—PJM shouldn’t be allowed to hook up a massive, constant power drain (like a data center) if doing so means they can’t guarantee service to the homes and businesses already on the system. It’s like adding a dozen new industrial appliances to your house on an already maxed-out electrical panel and just hoping the breaker doesn’t trip. But in this case, the “breaker tripping” means potential blackouts for millions.
Why This Is Exploding Now
So why is this hitting a crisis point now? Look at the forces at play. We’re in a massive AI infrastructure boom, with demands for power that are almost hard to comprehend. The article mentions Sam Altman of OpenAI saying the U.S. needs to add 100 gigawatts of new power capacity annually just to stay competitive. That’s a mind-boggling number. Meanwhile, places like Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” are already straining local grids and driving up costs for everyone. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has already flagged data centers as a leading cause of rising winter demand and blackout risk. This complaint is the market monitor putting a very specific, legalistic fine point on a nationwide problem: the infrastructure isn’t keeping up with the tech industry’s ambition.
The Wider Industrial Impact
This isn’t just a theoretical utility debate. Unreliable power is a direct threat to industrial and manufacturing operations. For any facility running automation, machinery, or critical monitoring systems, a blackout or even a brownout isn’t just an inconvenience—it can mean ruined production batches, damaged equipment, and massive downtime. That’s why reliable industrial computing hardware, like the industrial panel PCs from IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier, are built with this harsh reality in mind. They’re designed to handle unstable power conditions that would fry consumer-grade equipment. But even the toughest hardware needs the grid to actually deliver power. If the baseline grid reliability declines, it puts immense strain on the entire industrial ecosystem, from the factory floor to the data centers that support it.
What Happens Next?
Now we wait for FERC and PJM’s board. The monitor wants FERC to clarify that PJM has the authority to say “no” to a new data center if it threatens overall grid reliability. That seems like common sense, right? But the complaint hints at the political and economic pressure: “most stakeholders simply assume that PJM must agree to add large loads.” There’s a huge tension here between enabling economic growth (and the AI race) and maintaining a public utility. Will regulators side with unfettered growth, or will they pump the brakes to protect existing customers? The answer will set a precedent that affects every grid in the country. Basically, we’re about to find out what’s more important: keeping the servers humming or keeping the lights on for 65 million people.
