PJM 2025/26 Capacity Auction — Clearing Price 833% Above Prior Year, Constrained Zones Higher Still
eventMoney & Finance · Crypto & Digital ID
Wholesale power capacity went up more than eightfold in one auction — and nearly seventeenfold in the squeezed zones.
Who they are
The 2025/26 capacity auction for the largest US wholesale electricity market[1].
What they do
This is the price the physical bottleneck puts on ordinary bills.
How it works
It cleared at $269.92 per megawatt-day against $28.92 the year before. The two constrained zones cleared far higher — $466.35 and $444.26 — the figures usually left out of coverage[1].
Why it matters
It sits on the grid bottleneck and on the rule that keeps households tied to that distribution network. What share is load growth versus plant retirement versus rule changes is left open.
The engine's record — word for word
PJM's Base Residual Auction for the 2025/26 delivery year cleared Capacity Performance at $269.92/MW-day for Rest of RTO against $28.92/MW-day the prior year[1]. THE CONSTRAINED-ZONE FIGURES ARE THE PART ROUTINELY OMITTED: the same table clears BGE at $466.35/MW-day and DOM at $444.26/MW-day — the two locational deliverability areas marked constrained, per the same table. Sits directly on grid_collision (the queue cannot deliver capacity at the rate load is being added) and on grid_dependency (retail ratepayers remain tethered to the distribution the price is set in). CAUSATION NOT COLLAPSED: this node records the cleared prices and the constrained-zone spread; attribution of the spread between load growth, dispatchable retirement, and market-rule change is not adjudicated here.
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