Just as energy bills have become somewhat more digestible thanks to the change in seasons, the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel is warning that electric utility customers could soon be on the hook for $800 million in transmission upgrades to power Northern Virginia data centers.

The region’s power grid operator, PJM Interconnection, is planning to complete $6 billion in transmission investments over the next four years to better equip the power grid for increased demand — $1 billion more than it projected in 2023.

PJM is also preparing for the deactivation of some 11,000 megawatts (MW) of power generation in the region, including from the retirement of the more than 40-year-old Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner power plants in Anne Arundel County.

But the People’s Counsel on Monday argued that forecast power demand is “due almost exclusively to data center growth in Virginia,” according to a statement from the ratepayer advocacy agency.

“Once again, Maryland’s residential electric customers are being asked to pay hundreds of millions for infrastructure being built to support out-of-state data centers,” Maryland People’s Counsel David Lapp said in a statement.

Maryland has an estimated 41 data centers, according to a Data Center Map, while Northern Virginia has more than 300.

The People’s Counsel points to rules set by the region’s grid operator that force Marylanders to foot part of the bill — with an $800 million price tag — for transmission projects, due to proximity to the high-demand area.

“That 10 GW of forecasted growth in data center demand is far more than the 6.7 GW of existing peak demand of Maryland’s largest utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric — peak demand built up over the last century," the statement reads.

In fact, PJM projects peak demand in BGE’s coverage area to decline in 2030, according to the People’s Counsel. But PJM predicts demand on the overall system to increase by 40% in the next 15 years.

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is one of the transmission upgrade projects tied to the growing demand from data centers. The planned 70 miles of power lines that will cut through part of Baltimore, Carroll and Fredrick Counties have been criticized by residents and lawmakers alike.

Maryland is in an energy crisis as its dependency on out-of-state power grows. Lawmakers passed a sweeping package of energy bills in April that included pushing to build more in-state power sources and develop renewable sources like solar power.

Legislation focused on ratepayers primarily took aim at natural gas infrastructure projects, following shockingly high gas bills for BGE customers over the winter.

And last year, Gov. Wes Moore signed the Critical Infrastructure Streamlining Act, a law that data center developers saw as a “welcome sign.”

“This bill is going to supercharge the data center industry in Maryland, so we can unleash more economic potential and create more good-paying union jobs,” he said at the bill signing in May 2024.

But what PJM is asking Marylanders to pay for is beyond what’s happening in the state.

“PJM needs to change its rules for data center load growth so that Maryland residential customers don’t have to pay for and bear big risks from massive data center growth that isn’t even occurring in Maryland,” Lapp said.