Delaware– as part of the PJM energy grid– is likely headed for an energy shortfall and drop in reliability by the end of the decade.
That's according presentations from independent energy auditor Reliability First and Delaware's public advocate Jameson Tweedie.
Reliability First's Diane Holder told lawmakers that the PJM region Delaware falls in moves from "elevated" to "high" risk by 2029 without more planned energy.
According to her organization's report, "new data centers for artificial intelligence and the digital economy account for most of the projected increase in North American electricity demand over the next 10 years."
"Not a prediction that there's going to be an outage in 2029," Holders said. "But things have worsened."
These projections were part of input on large load energy users, like data centers that the Senate Environment, Energy & Transportation & House Natural Resources & Energy Joint Committee heard Friday.
The state's public advocate told the Joint Committee that for "many, many years" energy generator demand and growth was flat or modest.
But new energy generation is not matching data center development, Tweedie said. In PJM's last energy auctions, it procured 6.5 gigawatts under what it needs to guarantee reliability.
Delaware electric customers use approximately 11.3 million megawatt hours of electricity a year, which is about 1.3 gigawatts.
And Tweedie told lawmakers that customers are already seeing cost increases associated with these shortfalls.
With large data center development, Tweedie said, "we are in a period of dramatic growth where PJM will need to add the equivalent of a California or Texas-size power grid in just the next five years."
PJM and plans to prepare for data centers
Representatives with PJM, the largest energy generator in the US, also came to legislative hall. It covers 13 states including Delaware.
Lori Lee, PJM senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs, confirmed Tweedie and Reliability First's projected increases caused by data centers.
State Senator Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown) heads the Senate Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee. She said as states compete to attract data centers, lawmakers need to understand the implications for an already stressed grid.
"What was important for me is to make sure that a subject that's as complex and deep as this has been given a full and thorough discussion from all sides," she said. "...Because we have a big issue that we have to try and figure out here."
In December 2025 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told PJM to create guidelines that "facilitate service of AI-driven data centers and other large loads."
PJM shared a plan outline that will get new energy generators connected to the grid more quickly and a definition of large load operators on its grid.
Importantly, Hansen said, PJM will ask large energy users to bring their own power to the grid, or be subject to restricted power usage when the grid is stressed. It's a suggestion she worked on with the PJM legislators collaborative, which she said will make a difference in Delaware’s ability to negotiate with data center developers.
"Either bring your own generation or agree to be curtailable–that was a non starter before," she said. "Now we all, as a region, have come to that conclusion. That's really helpful for us, because that means, as a state, we don't have to start from the ground floor."
Hansen said one of her takeaways from the day's presentations is that legislators need to take an active role in data center development.
"Even PJM has said, 'we can only do so much as the regional grid operator,'" she said.
What gets built, will depend on individual state response and strategy, she said.
She introduced and intends to advance a bill to regulate entities planning to use 30 megawatts of electricity or more, which would apply to most data centers.
