Maryland Power Play : Will Data Center Drain Public Power?

A proposed Maryland power-plant deal could let a private data-center operator pull generation out of the regional market—leaving ordinary families and small businesses holding the bag.

Quick Take

PJM’s Independent Market Monitor asked FERC to reject GenOn’s application to sell the 216-MW oil-fired Morgantown units to data-center developer TeraWulf.
The Market Monitor warned the deal could remove capacity from PJM’s markets to serve “proprietary” data-center load, shifting reliability and price risks onto ratepayers.
TeraWulf says it plans a phased buildout that pairs new gas generation and battery storage with new data-center load, with a first phase potentially online in 2028.
The dispute lands in PJM’s PEPCO Zone, an area already described as constrained, where load growth and retirements intensify reliability concerns.

FERC is being asked to block the Morgantown sale over ratepayer risk

Monitoring Analytics, PJM Interconnection’s Independent Market Monitor, filed comments on March 4, 2026 urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject GenOn’s application to sell the Morgantown power plant units in Maryland to TeraWulf. The application (Docket No. EC26-58) covers 216 MW of oil-fired generation at a larger site where multiple units totaling 1,260 MW were shuttered in 2022. FERC has not issued a ruling, and the docket remains open.

GenOn filed its FERC application on February 2, 2026, but the Market Monitor said the record does not clearly commit the Morgantown units to remain in PJM’s capacity market. That missing commitment matters because capacity obligations and market participation are a central tool for ensuring enough resources exist to keep the lights on during peak demand. The Market Monitor’s bottom-line recommendation was rejection and refiling with clear conditions that protect customers and market integrity.

“New load, new generation” becomes the fault line for data-center growth

The underlying fight is bigger than one facility: it is about whether large new data centers will add new, public-serving generation, or simply re-route existing supply for private use. The Market Monitor’s filing argued that removing a unit from market service to supply proprietary load can operate like “physical withholding,” raising reliability and price concerns for everyone else. The Trump-era “ratepayer pledge” messaging that data centers should self-supply power without burdening the public grid.

TeraWulf, which has positioned itself as a bitcoin mining and data center company, described a phased development concept on its February 26, 2026 earnings call. The outline includes, per phase, 500 MW of gas generation, 250 MW of battery storage, and 500 MW of data-center load, with a first phase potentially online in late 2028. Company executives have argued the site could be a net exporter to Maryland and that batteries could provide peak-shaving support, but the Market Monitor’s concern is what is actually committed in the FERC filing.

Why the PEPCO Zone matters: constrained grid, high stakes for reliability

The Morgantown site sits in PJM’s PEPCO Zone describes as constrained and facing reliability risk from load growth and resource retirements. In plain terms, constrained zones have less room for error; a megawatt taken out of the market can be felt more quickly in planning margins and pricing. That context helps explain why the Market Monitor is pushing FERC to demand clarity before approving a transaction that could change how capacity is offered—or not offered—into PJM markets.

For consumers who lived through years of inflation and the cost-of-living squeeze, this kind of technical market dispute still hits close to home. When wholesale market rules allow large players to privatize benefits while socializing risk, households end up exposed through higher electric bills and weaker reliability. The filings frame the debate as a straightforward public-interest test: if a data center wants enormous new load, the grid should see real, enforceable new supply—not vague promises or optional participation.

Precedent: PJM Monitor has warned before about uneconomic resources and cost shifting

The Market Monitor’s position also draws strength from its earlier work on other Maryland-related disputes. In a separate January 12, 2026 filing involving the Warrior Run coal plant (Docket No. ER26-880), the Monitor argued that waivers and out-of-market arrangements can keep resources around that do not provide “economic energy,” while still imposing costs. That history matters because it shows the watchdog is consistently focused on preventing market distortions that can stick ratepayers with expensive outcomes.

PJM Market Monitor Opposes Maryland Coal Plant Sale To Data Center Company https://t.co/WqGovB3Da7

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 8, 2026

There are still limits on what the public can conclude right now. The key uncertainty: TeraWulf’s public statements about adding new gas generation and batteries are not the same thing as binding commitments in the pending FERC application, and it remains unclear whether the Morgantown units would be reactivated or how they would participate in PJM markets. Until FERC rules, the central question is whether regulators will require enforceable protections so data-center expansion doesn’t erode reliability for everyone else.