Power prices are up 76% on America’s biggest grid, and a watchdog is pointing fingers

We are all paying for all the data centers for AI whether we like it or not.... Wholesale prices for one megawatt-hour of electricity rose to $136.53, up from $77.78 at the same time last year. Crain’s Chicago Business was first to [report](https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manufacturing-logistics/ccb-pjm-power-prices-jump-76-in-ai-era-20260514/) on the spike. Monitoring Analytics pointed the finger at data centers and PJM’s failure to handle their surging demand adequately. The market monitor pulled no punches. “The price impacts on customers have been very large and are not reversible,” Monitoring Analytics wrote. “The price impacts will be even larger in the near term unless the issues associated with data center load are addressed in a timely manner.”  PJM is a ripe target for such criticism. In 2022, just as data center construction was ramping up, the grid operator paused applications for new generating sources, citing a years-long backlog. It only recently started accepting new requests. Meanwhile, electricity demand from data centers has risen dramatically. The PJM grid includes Northern Virginia, a part of the country that is thick with data centers. The price spike is a reminder of a deeper problem: The U.S. power grid was not designed for the electricity demands of an AI-driven economy, and the gap between what the grid can deliver and what the industry needs is widening. [https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/15/power-prices-are-up-76-on-americas-biggest-grid-and-a-watchdog-is-pointing-fingers/](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/15/power-prices-are-up-76-on-americas-biggest-grid-and-a-watchdog-is-pointing-fingers/)