Source: Bloomberg
PJM's electricity costs have become a direct economic lever for AI infrastructure expansion. A single quarter's 76% spike signals that grid constraints are pricing into wholesale markets faster than capacity can be built. Data centers are competing directly with traditional power consumers for electrons, and they're wealthy enough to bid prices up dramatically. This creates immediate margin pressure on utilities and longer-term incentives for new generation—nuclear, renewables, grid storage—that won't solve the problem for 3-5 years minimum.