AI Data Center Boom Forces Maryland Households to Subsidize Virginia Transmission Upgrades

Maryland ratepayers face an estimated $1.6 billion increase in electricity bills over the next decade due to PJM Interconnection’s cost allocation rules that spread transmission expenses for data centers primarily located in Virginia across the entire grid footprint, including Maryland. The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel filed a formal complaint with FERC on May 7, 2026, alleging that PJM’s hybrid methodology—assigning half the costs via load-ratio share and the rest via solution-based distribution factor—unfairly burdens states like Maryland that sit adjacent to “Data Center Alley” without commensurate benefits. The complaint targets $22 billion in recent regional transmission expansion plan projects, of which Maryland is allocated roughly $2 billion despite minimal local load growth from data centers. A group of 80 Maryland state lawmakers filed supporting comments at FERC on June 17, 2026. Broader PJM-wide impacts include capacity auction price spikes tied to AI-driven demand, with reports documenting billions in added costs passed to residential customers across multiple states. A Union of Concerned Scientists analysis found $4.4 billion in data-center-related transmission upgrades approved in seven PJM states in 2024 alone. Bloomberg reporting highlights how PJM’s February approvals of $5.9 billion in new projects attribute the surge primarily to data centers, contributing to record-high capacity prices that raised Baltimore bills by over $17 monthly in prior cycles, with further increases projected. OPC materials and expert affidavits note risks of overbuilding if speculative data-center forecasts prove overstated, potentially stranding assets paid for by non-benefiting ratepayers. The complaint urges FERC to direct costs to the zones or customers causing the need, enabling state-level large-load tariffs to better internalize expenses rather than socializing them regionally.