Manufacturing News
July 17, 2026
July 17, 2026 · Statewide · Story 3 of 4
PJM's $6.3B Data Center Cost Raises Indiana Manufacturing Electricity Costs
PJM's 2028/29 capacity auction cleared 138,317 megawatts at the capped price of $325 per megawatt-day, $16.4 billion in total capacity payments for the 12 months starting June 1, 2028. PJM's independent market monitor attributed $6.3 billion of that to planned data centers inside the footprint, a cost spread across all customers rather than paid by the data centers themselves. For industrial customers on RTO pass-through contracts, capacity payments can represent a meaningful low-double-digit share of wholesale power costs, though the exact figure varies by contract structure, load profile, and your LSE.
Why it matters: retail prices in PJM are already up roughly 49 percent over five years, against a national average near 33 percent. A FERC Section 206 show-cause order requires PJM and its transmission owners to respond by August 17 on whether the current tariff unjustly pushes large-load transmission costs onto other customers. Pull your current contract and stress-test your 2028 energy budget against a scenario where the FERC cap is lifted and clearing prices rise materially.
- For the huddle
How does the PJM capacity auction affect our Indiana manufacturing electricity costs?
The $325 per megawatt-day clearing price drives $16.4 billion in capacity payments starting June 2028, and if you are on an RTO pass-through contract those costs reach you as a low-double-digit share of wholesale power. Model that increase against your all-in cost per kilowatt-hour now, before it locks into your 2028 contract structure.
From the brief, July 17, 2026
- Postle Aluminum Adds Hard-Alloy Capacity in Howe
- Indiana Launches a Nuclear Siting Program With a Design Gap
- PJM's $6.3B Data Center Cost Raises Indiana Manufacturing Electricity Costs
- Labor Competition Tightens in LaGrange and Boone Counties
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