Yesterday (July 1, 2026), peak electricity demand on the PJM grid reached 162.1 gigawatts (GW) around 5:00 PM EDT. Total grid usage hovered near 160 GW during the evening surge, forcing the system to rely heavily on fossil fuels to maintain reliability amid extreme heat.
Because of the massive draw on the power grid from data centers and residential air conditioning, PJM and the Department of Energy took aggressive emergency measures to ensure a sufficient power supply.
- Demand Breakdown: Of the roughly 160 GW consumed around 6 PM, about 147 GW came from fossil fuels and nuclear power, while around 20 GW came from renewables.
- Federal Emergency Action: The U.S. Department of Energy issued a statutory emergency order to allow PJM to direct data centers with backup generators to use them, freeing up capacity for the general public before ordering rolling blackouts.
- Market Impacts: Transmission line congestion caused spot wholesale prices in the Virginia zone to spike over $600 per megawatt-hour.
For further context on how demand is shaping up or to view live data, you can track current grid usage on the PJM Interconnection dashboard.
