Shapiro says this 'broken process' could lead to higher electricity costs. Here's what to know.

[modrepub]

2. This Is A Looming Storm Cloud

You bet Republicans are going to blame their opponents (Democrats and renewable energy).

At its basic level, this is a bureaucratic SNAFU. There's been a wave of generator closures mainly due market forces. Old, inefficient and costly electric generators, for the most part coal-fired units, have closed en mass over the last decade. Some of these plants have been replaced with more efficient combined cycle natural gas plants and renewables like solar and now off-shore wind projects coming on line in the next 5 years. But replacement has been really slow, and a lot of the delays go back to PJM. In defense of PJM, it's one thing to maintain an electric grid, it's another basically have to rebuild AND maintain an electric grid at the same time.

The price spikes in the electric futures market are mainly due to speculation that demand will outpace supply. If demand outstrips supply, people buying on the electric spot market are going to pay dearly.

I like Shapiro, but if prices spike, he's going to be in trouble. It's really out of his control. PJM is the responsible party. They've got to get their act together and get more generation build outs through their project approval queue.