According to PJM’s own executive summary, the auction ended more than 6,623 megawatts (MW) below what PJM says it needed to keep the lights on safely, leaving far less backup power than recommended. To put that into perspective, that’s the amount needed to keep the lights on for roughly 6.6 million homes. Even more concerning, PJM noted only 774 megawatts of new generation cleared the auction, an extremely small amount relative to accelerating demand. Lastly, capacity prices hit the price cap, a clear signal of scarcity rather than healthy supply.
Under PJM’s own tariff, a shortfall of this magnitude triggers a formal investigation. Continued shortfalls could lead to a Reliability Backstop Auction, an emergency procurement mechanism that often results in higher costs with little immediate new infrastructure to show for it.
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