Data Centers

The electric demands required to support data centers are driving up costs for Maryland customers in three main areas: 

Capacity market data center costs: PJM operates a periodic capacity market auction under which power plant owners make advance commitments to provide power to meet reliability requirements. The power demands of data centers are driving substantial increases in the need for supply, driving up capacity market prices. According to the independent market monitor for PJM, data center load growth is “the primary reason for recent and expected capacity market conditions” within PJM. And PJM and Maryland customers are already seeing the impacts of projected data centers’ electrical demands in their bills. For more information about the capacity market, its impact on Maryland customers and OPC’s advocacy, see OPC’s FERC/PJM website. 

Transmission data center costs: The anticipated addition of massive new electric needs associated with the construction of data centers is driving a large expansion of PJM’s transmission system that Maryland customers see on the supply side of their bill. Between 2024 and 2025 alone, PJM has advanced almost $12 billion in new transmission infrastructure for regional upgrades primarily driven by data center growth, mainly in Northern Virginia. About $1.3 billion–plus billions more in utility profits as the initial investments are recovered in future decades–will be paid by Maryland customers. Marylanders also are paying tens of millions in local transmission projects for data centers.

Energy market data center costs: While harder to quantify because energy costs change hour-by-hour, data centers are most certainly driving higher energy costs for Maryland customers. An analysis by Bloomberg, for example, found that between 2020 and 2025 energy prices grew significantly more near “data center hot spots,” including Baltimore, where they more than doubled. Energy prices comprise the largest part of wholesale costs that show up as part of the supply portion of a residential customer bill. (Wholesale costs include transmission and capacity costs as well.) Energy prices in PJM grew almost 50% from January 2025 to September 2025 compared to the same period last year.

Residential customers should not be responsible for any of these costs caused by the massive electricity demands of data centers or by projections of significant data center growth. 

OPC is engaged in advocacy at the state and federal level to protect customers from bearing costs driven by real and projected data center growth. The following highlights some of OPC’s work on data centers. 

Capacity market impacts of data centers

• ► Major reforms necessary to address data centers’ costs and reliability impacts, OPC tells regional electric grid operator (11/12/2025)

  ► Data center power demands drive record power auction prices with varying impacts on Maryland customers (7/24/2025)

  ► Data center proliferation underlies reliability and cost concerns, OPC tells federal regulators (7/9/2025)

Forecasts of power demands due to data centers

• ► OPC asks PJM Board to intervene to protect customers from billions in costs from new forecasts of massive data center growth (10/15/2025)

  ► Data center proliferation underlies reliability and cost concerns, OPC tells federal regulators (7/9/2025)

  ► OPC asks regional transmission operator to address inconsistencies and speculation in utility load forecasting (7/18/2024)

Transmission cost allocation for data centers

• ► Major reforms necessary to address data centers’ costs and reliability impacts, OPC tells regional electric grid operator (11/12/2025)

  ► OPC asks federal regulators to deny BGE financial incentives to build $634 million of transmission projects driven by Virginia data centers (8/25/2025)

• ► PJM proposal would unlawfully saddle Maryland customers with nearly $800 million for out-of-state data center growth, OPC tells federal regulators (4/28/2025)

  ► Transmission operator’s proposal to apportion costs for Virginia data centers violates law, Maryland Office of People’s Counsel tells federal agency (2/12/2024)

Samples of press coverage of OPC’s work on data center cost impacts

• ► Data centers are spiking electricity costs in Maryland. It’s the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ one expert warns (11/14/2025, CNN)

  ► AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring (9/29/2025, Bloomberg)

• ► Will PJM do what it takes to get data-center costs under control? (11/17/2025, Canary Media)