Governors sign electric capacity agreement to collaborate in PJM territory
Governors from states in the PJM electricity region created the PJM Governors' Collaborative to coordinate on energy costs, transmission planning and grid reliability. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker cited rapidly growing data center demand as a threat to future reliability and promoted nuclear generation and proposed requirements for new data centers to add power capacity.
A bipartisan group of governors signed a memorandum of understanding at a summit in Chicago creating the PJM Governors' Collaborative. The organization is intended to give states a stronger collective voice in decisions by PJM, the regional transmission organization serving the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest, as electricity demand and capacity prices rise.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that data center growth could contribute to power shortages and said Illinois is pursuing new and upgraded nuclear generation. His comments followed Google's announcement of a $4.3 billion project with Constellation to expand generation at 11 Illinois nuclear sites, adding an estimated 890 megawatts to the PJM grid. Pritzker is also urging the Illinois legislature to advance the POWER Act, which would require new data centers to bring additional generation capacity online.