How to Fix Our Nation’s Growing Electricity Supply Problem
By Matt Irvin, CEO and Co-Founder of Maplewell Energy
In the recent 2025-26 capacity auction for PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator serving the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, the auction price hit a record high of $269.92/MW-day. That’s up 10 times from the $28.92/MW-day price for 2024-25.
Supply isn’t meeting demand
Why did prices go so high? A number of factors contributed to a mismatch between supply and demand.
Supply is low due in part to power producers exiting the generation market and in part to fossil-fuel-powered plant retirements. Since the 2024-25 timeframe, about 6.6 GW of generation in the region has retired or is expected to retire, and PJM expects up to 40 GW, or 21% of the region’s installed capacity, to retire by 2030.
