Energy Secretary Chris Wright put the Energy Department on record on October 9, 2026: “the Energy Department supports having large electricity users pay for reliable new power generation.” The statement came with a legal filing, a Notice of Intervention and Statement of Position at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a case over how the PJM Interconnection should allocate the cost of new supply. Deputy Secretary James P. Danly joined him in presenting the filing as a defense of existing customers against higher bills.
It is a position, not a rule. DOE is backing a recommendation from FERC, and the regulator has not ordered large customers to cover anything. PJM, the grid operator whose territory spans 13 states, has not yet refiled the cost-allocation provisions at issue.
The filing DOE made at FERC
According to DOE’s announcement, the department supports FERC’s recommendation that PJM submit revised tariff provisions for its proposed Reliability Backstop Procurement, including how the costs are allocated. The department ties the move to President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
Deputy Secretary of Energy James P. Danly framed the case in terms of transparency and cost shifting: “By increasing transparency and preventing unjust cost shifts onto existing customers, the proposed reforms advance President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge.” DOE lists four aims for the procurement: lower costs by making large load users pay for new generation and infrastructure, keep households and businesses from subsidizing those large loads, rely on accurate and transparent demand information, and let large loads build, bring or buy the capacity they need.
The release carries no docket number and sets no deadline, beyond urging PJM to act promptly on FERC’s order. The American Public Power Association’s summary of the order identifies the proceeding as ER26-3380, a number it says appears in the filename of the linked FERC order.
Reliability Backstop Procurement and its 6,831 megawatts
PJM describes the procurement in its own fact sheet as a one-time safety net to close a reliability gap as new large-load demand outpaces new supply. The initial target is 6,831 megawatts, the shortfall from the 2028/2029 delivery year capacity auction, and central contracts would run up to 15 years. PJM filed the proposal at FERC on July 31.
The fact sheet’s cost language is where the dispute sits. It says costs would be allocated first to zones by their pro rata share of the target and then to load-serving entities within each zone. It does not name data centers or other large customers as the payers, which is the gap DOE and FERC are asking PJM to address.
DOE’s release points to the same pressure, and to a political history that predates the filing. It recalls that in January 2026 the Trump administration asked PJM to hold an emergency power auction and speed up reliable generation, and that the governors of all 13 PJM states joined the request through a statement of principles. The department’s page summarizes that statement without reproducing it, so the exact commitments the governors signed are not spelled out in the release itself. What the release does make plain is that the federal government and the states were aligned on the goal of getting new generation built, and that the open fight is over who is billed for it, with DOE answering that the largest new customers should carry the bill for the capacity they are driving.
FERC’s September 29 order and the suspension
FERC acted on September 29, 2026. By the account of the same public power summary, the commission accepted the proposal but suspended it for five months, subject to refund and to further proceedings, and identified three discrete issues needing more review. A market-news report adds that FERC found significant deficiencies in how costs would be spread, questioned whether households and small businesses would be burdened by infrastructure built mainly for a small set of large commercial customers, and flagged a potential collateral requirement of roughly $2 billion for Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative.
The two summaries describe the order in slightly different terms, one stressing acceptance subject to suspension and the other stressing suspension of key parts, so the dependable reading is the one both share: PJM did not launch the offer window it had planned for September 30, and the effective date moved to February 28, 2027 under the suspension. That window had been scheduled to run through October 21.
What FERC will finally require of large users is therefore still open. DOE’s statement adds weight on one side of a proceeding at FERC that PJM must answer with revised provisions, and the department’s wording leaves unspecified how much of the new generation’s cost large customers would carry or on what basis it would be divided.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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