STATEMENT: Clean Power PA on PJM’s Two-Year Extension of the Capacity Auction Price Cap

STATEWIDE (February 13, 2026) – Clean Power PA applauds Governor Josh Shapiro for leading the effort to force PJM Interconnection to extend its capacity auction price cap for an additional two years. This step will help protect families, seniors, and small businesses across Pennsylvania and the PJM region from additional unnecessary rate hikes, at a time when many people are already struggling with high energy costs. Extending the price cap will save consumers an estimated $27 billion more, bringing the total savings to $45 billion for 67 million Americans across the PJM region.

This extension reflects overwhelming public support. When PJM opened its survey process to stakeholder input, the response was clear and decisive: ratepayers, consumer advocates, environmental organizations, and community groups across the region called for extending the price cap. PJM asked, and the public answered – loudly and in large numbers. This broad consensus makes it clear that protecting consumers from unnecessary rate hikes is not just sound policy but also what the people of this region demand.

While this extension is an important consumer win, it also reminds us that the underlying problem remains. PJM’s broken planning and outdated interconnection process have held back ready-to-build affordable clean energy and storage projects, keeping supply tighter than it needs to be and putting upward pressure on prices.

Pennsylvanians deserve an electric system that is reliable, affordable, and built for today’s realities, including rapidly growing demand from large new loads such as data centers. That means PJM must stop fast-tracking “false solutions” and instead prioritize real reforms that bring new resources online faster, improve transparency, and ensure that the largest new energy users pay their fair share.

Clean Power PA will continue working with partners across the region to push PJM and policymakers to:

• Speed up the process for connecting new clean energy projects and storage to the grid.

• Expand a diversified energy mix that lowers costs and improves reliability.

• Hold PJM accountable for decisions that directly affect customers’ monthly bills.

• Keep consumer protections front and center as market changes move forward.

Bottom line: A price cap extension can prevent immediate harm. But getting low-cost clean energy onto the grid as quickly as possible is the only way to stave off long-term price hikes for consumers.

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