A new market report is drawing a direct line between rising electricity prices across the nation's largest power grid and one fast-growing source of demand, AI data centers. 

For households and businesses across a broad stretch of the Eastern United States, that could mean the effects of the AI boom are showing up in energy costs.

PJM Interconnection, which runs the wholesale electricity market for 67 million people across 13 states, saw average power prices climb to $136.53 per megawatt-hour over the opening quarter of 2026, as reported by Gizmodo. 

That was up nearly 76% from the same period a year earlier, according to a new report from Monitoring Analytics.

The report directly tied the increase to rapidly growing demand from large data centers.

"Data center load growth is the primary reason for recent and expected capacity market conditions, including total forecast load growth, the tight supply-and-demand balance, and high prices," the report stated.

PJM's territory includes major data center hubs in the mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and South, and the report said the existing power supply is already falling behind. It added: "The current supply of capacity in PJM is not adequate to meet the demand from large data center loads and will not be adequate in the foreseeable future."

The generation mix also shifted in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the prior year, with coal and wind output falling while natural gas, oil, and solar generation increased.

Wholesale prices are not always the same as what households see on utility bills, but they often feed into the costs customers ultimately pay. 

When grid capacity gets tight, the result can be higher prices, more pressure on infrastructure, and tougher choices about how new electricity demand is served.

That matters all the more as AI and the grid become increasingly intertwined. 

AI tools can help utilities predict demand, improve grid operations, and better integrate cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind. 

But the data centers powering that technology can also consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, raise local power costs, and introduce concerns around security, misuse, and other unintended social impacts.

Monitoring Analytics said the impact on PJM customers is not short-term. The report found that large data center additions have already had a "significant and irreversible impact" that customers will be paying through May 31, 2028, with more pressure expected from transmission, energy, and capacity costs.

Public skepticism appears to be growing as well. 

A Gallup poll cited in the source material found that 71% of Americans oppose building data centers in their area, and half of the respondents pointed to strain on local resources.

The report does not offer a quick fix. Instead, it describes a reality in which demand is rising faster than available supply, leaving the grid to rely on a changing mix of resources. 

In the first quarter, solar generation rose 15%, suggesting cleaner power is growing, but oil generation also increased, jumping more than 43%.

For consumers, that means the most realistic response may be to protect themselves where possible from broader electricity volatility. That can include tracking utility-rate changes, improving home energy efficiency, and shifting usage away from expensive peak periods if local pricing plans allow it.

At a larger level, the findings add pressure on grid operators, regulators, and developers to coordinate new power supply, transmission upgrades, and smarter demand management before data center growth outpaces the system even further.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.