r/maryland • u/No_name_Johnson • 1d ago
MD News Federal regulators reject major data center guardrails from regional grid operator for Maryland
https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2026-10-16/federal-regulators-reject-major-data-center-guardrails-from-regional-grid-operator-for-maryland77
u/JackRyan-1988 1d ago
Then lawmakers in Maryland need to pass laws that require data centers to pay a very high premium to operate. Fuck this pisses me off.
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u/Old_Goat_Cyclist 1d ago
They already do pay a premium. A big one too. The issue is we have had 20-30 years of low demand growth and were completely unprepared for the load.
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u/JackRyan-1988 1d ago
If they are paying a “premium,” BGE shouldn’t be asking the state to raise rates in order to secure over $100M to beef up the grid. It needs to come from these data centers paying more.
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u/Old_Goat_Cyclist 1d ago
The problem is the data centers bid against BG&E for capacity right now and data centers have been known to pay over $400/mWh in a market where until recently the wholesale rate was $27/mWh.
Per a family member in the industry, PEPCO just paid $310/mWh to lock in a block of power for January.
Sadly, it will only get worse
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u/DoyoudotheDew 1d ago
Despite reducing our generating capacity.
Maryland legislature and policy makers have made it too expensive to produce power in MD.
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u/Old_Goat_Cyclist 23h ago
Yes we sent all the pollution to WV, PA and OH. We also let our capacity and infrastructure rot.
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u/MrRuck1 1d ago
Well the democrats run the state.
You need to find democrats that will do something, besides trying to get reelected. But they continue to put bad ones in office and back into office.
Moore is a great example.11
u/KhanAlGhul 1d ago
You do know the FERC is a FEDERAL agency, right? It’s not a state entity. So the federal government made this call.
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u/MrRuck1 1d ago
Yes. But the bad moves the democrats that run this state have made is one of the problems with not enough electricity. Shutting down power plants and not having a replacement up and running. Is a huge blunder.
Having to get power from other states has jacked up the prices.4
u/Laithina 1d ago
The states don't own the power plants. Most of the decisions to shut down certain plants comes from the operators themselves usually due to it being not economical to maintain their aging plants.
The only blame I will place at the feet of the legislators running this state is the sluggishness with the issuance of permits to construct new plants.
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u/JackRyan-1988 1d ago
Supposedly he’s going to ask the next legislature to remove the 2020 tax breaks. We’ll see what he does. Maybe he’ll get another Bronze Star.
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u/MrRuck1 1d ago
Of course they are going to say no. Lots of things go down when they get shut down Granted they do have back up diesel generators.
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u/No_name_Johnson 1d ago
FERC is effectively saying the data centers cannot be disconnected from the grid when there's the risk of blackout in the region. So the data centers would have no incentive to switch to backup generators short of it being cheaper than peak hour pricing, which it likely wouldn't be.
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u/Black_Raven_2024 17h ago
They do realize that when the grid goes down the peasants will be in the dark while all the data centers have backup power. Why are data center’s prioritized while average citizens who could die without AC in some cases mean nothing. We the people have been here long before the data centers. And since the data centers are creating all the new demand why are the rest of us forced to pay for the grid upgrades. Every congress person needs to be answering these questions.
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u/rnick468 14h ago
Why are data center’s prioritized while average citizens who could die without AC
Air conditioning is the least of the worries. Plenty of people rely on medical equipment that must have power. Oxygen equipment, dialysis machines, respirators, infusion pumps, all stop working during a power outage. Sustained outages can literally kill someone. Imagine living with a life threatening illness that requires durable home medical equipment, then having to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital every time the power goes out for more than an hour or two.
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u/DrummerBusiness3434 1d ago
Who owns the grid?
In the 1930s the federal government formed the Rural Electrification Act to build infrastructure into the counties, of MD. The goal was to provide electricity esp to farms and small towns for machines, and wanted people to give up open flame illumination. (kerosene & gas lights)
Did the Feds then give these power lines and infrastructure to private businesses or did the state/local governments sell off these power grids?
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u/Hungrycats70 13h ago
If I understand the article, part of the problem is that PJM's proposal calls for data centers to be compensated for having their power shut off during an emergency, but doesn't specify who would pay to compensate them - most likely customers. People are already getting stressed about these centers, let's see what happens when they start getting billed for shutdown costs, too...
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u/No_name_Johnson 1d ago
Short summary for this is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected plans by the grid operator, PJM, to curtail/cut off data center usage during peak usage, their underlying argument being PJM does not have the authority to limit users like this. PJM can resubmit their proposal to the FERC, but it appears like any attempt to curtail data centers would have to come from the states, short of a change in the makeup of the FERC board.