PA Environment Digest Blog: Gov. Shapiro Renews Call On PJM To Extend Electricity Capacity Auction Price Collar Protection To Consumers, Build Lasting Grid Reform

On January 30, Gov. Josh Shapiro submitted a formal response to PJM Interconnection’s call for feedback, urging the PJM Board to protect consumers by extending the existing price floor and ceiling-- known as the “price collar”-- for the 2028/29 and 2029/30 capacity auctions, as PJM undertakes a holistic market review in 2026.

After all 13 PJM governors and the federal government issued a Statement of Principles earlier this month with a plan to reform PJM’s marketplace that includes extending the price collar to protect consumers, the PJM Board is seeking public feedback on extending the price collar that has been in place for the last two auctions because of Governor Shapiro’s legal action.

The Governor has been crystal clear that extending the collar is essential to protect consumers from unjustified price spikes while PJM fixes the structural failures that continue to drive higher costs without delivering new reliability.

Without the price collar-- $325/MW-day ceiling and $175/MW-day floor-- consumers across the PJM region would have paid more than $18 billion in additional costs while receiving essentially the same amount of committed power in PJM’s last two auctions.

“Until PJM fixes the broken systems that delay new power generation and drive up prices, Pennsylvanians should not be forced to foot the bill,” said Governor Shapiro. “The price collar is protecting consumers, preventing unjustified price spikes, and buying time for real, long-overdue reform.”

[The next PJM electricity capacity auction is scheduled for June for 2028-29 delivery.]

Governor Shapiro response emphasized:

-- Extending the price collar is necessary, just, and reasonable. Structural barriers — including years-long interconnection delays by PJM, supply chain constraints, auction delays, and unprecedented load growth driven by data centers — is preventing new electric generation from entering the market in time to meet near-term needs, regardless of the prices consumers pay.

Consumers must be protected while these problems are being resolved.

-- Higher prices alone will not deliver new supply. PJM’s own analysis shows that no price in the upcoming Base Residual Auction (BRA) will be sufficient to attract new resources, while prices above the price collar will dramatically overcompensate existing generators.

-- Consumers cannot be charged for benefits the market cannot deliver. Asking families and businesses to pay uncapped, skyrocketing prices when new power cannot realistically be built in time is unjust and unreasonable.

-- Failure to extend the price collar would trigger further action. Governor Shapiro made clear that if PJM fails to act, Pennsylvania will defend consumers before FERC and in federal court.

Governor Shapiro also underscored that the price collar does not harm reliability or investment. Instead, it prevents windfall profits while PJM transitions toward longer-term solutions that can actually support new electric generation.

For more than two years, the Governor has been sounding the alarm on PJM’s broken market rules and warning that rising energy costs would be passed directly onto consumers unless immediate action was taken.

Click Here for the Governor's announcement.

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 3 to 30: 56 Conventional Abandoned Well Violations Start The Year; 1.2 Million Gallons Of Drilling Fluid Lost; Shale Water Pipeline Freezes; 1.5 Million Gallons Of Wastewater To Remove [PaEN

-- DEP: Day 455 And Counting: Seneca Resources Continues To Release Wastewater, Frack New Shale Gas Wells At Taft Well Pad In Middlebury Twp., Tioga County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Owner Of At Least 43 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Issued Violations For 6 More On State Game Lands In Venango County; Efforts To Locate The Owner Have Been Unsuccessful [PaEN]

-- DEP: Eureka Resources Has Until Jan. 31 To Remove All Wastewater From Its 3 Closed Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Plants; About 1.5 Million Gallons Of Wastewater Remains In Bradford County Facility [PaEN]

-- DEP: Range Resources Force Heating, Cutting Apart Frozen Polyethylene Shale Gas Water Pipeline To Release Water, Ice In Mount Pleasant Twp., Washington County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Seneca Resources Failed To Submit Area Of Review Reports To Identify Possible Conflicts With Other Wells Prior To Start Of Drilling 4 Shale Gas Wells In Middlebury Twp., Tioga County.

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - January 31 [PaEN]

-- Governor’s Regulatory Agenda Includes Update Of Regulations For Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; New Injection Well Controls; Shale Gas Application Fee [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Air Quality Permit For 15 Natural Gas Generators To Power Iron City Wells, LLC Data Center In Karthaus Twp., Clearfield County [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 75 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In January 31 PA Bulletin [PaEN]