PJM to Data Centers: Stop Bailing on the Grid Every Time It Blips

Remember that July morning when 4,000 megawatts (MW) of Northern Virginia data centers yanked themselves off the PJM grid because of a routine, properly cleared fault on a single transmission line (see PJM: Data Centers Panicked, Nearly Crashed the Grid on Purpose)? PJM hasn't forgotten either. On Sept. 8, PJM's Planning Committee got its first look at proposed "ride-through" standards that would require big data centers and crypto mines to stay connected and keep drawing power when the grid wobbles — instead of hitting the eject button and running for their diesel generators. And PJM isn't easing into it: new facilities entering the study process would have to demonstrate compliance starting Nov. 1, 2026 — about five weeks from now.

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