The PJM Crisis: It’s Time to End the Deregulation Experiment

Something is broken in the wholesale markets. And finally, a group of bipartisan governors are calling it out.

The New York Times just laid bare what many of us have warned for years: PJM, the largest grid operator in the U.S.,has become a poster child for how deregulated energy markets fail the public. Bills are skyrocketing. Power plants are retiring faster than replacements are coming online. Promising clean energy projects are stalled in bureaucracy. And worst of all, no one—not even elected governors—seems to have real oversight.

Deregulation was supposed to deliver competition, innovation, and lower prices. Instead, it has handed the keys to electric generators and energy traders, while families and businesses across 13 states and D.C. are left paying out of control bills. In Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and beyond, energy costs have jumped 30–40% in just five years. And PJM’s response? Auctions and more secrecy.

Governors from both parties are right to be angry. Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland called PJM “out of touch.” Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania went further—suing the grid operator and securing a $21 billion ratepayer reprieve. But it shouldn’t take a lawsuit to stop a broken pricing system.

The truth is deregulated markets were never built for reliability, affordability, or accountability. They were built for speculation and profit.

It’s time to bring back real oversight. Regulated utility models, like those in much of the West and Southeast, have consistently delivered lower costs, more planning, and greater accountability to the public. Governors across the PJM footprint should seriously consider exiting the RTO and restoring regulatory authority at the state level.

This isn’t about politics. it’s about protecting people from a system that no longer serves them. PJM is melting down. The governors know it. The public is feeling it. The fix isn’t tweaking a failed model. It’s replacing it.

Let’s stop pretending deregulation works. It doesn’t.