Data Center Interest, Opposition on the Rise in New England

While the data center boom has yet to have a major impact on the New England grid, increased interest from data center developers is fueling concern about potential effects on energy affordability and long-term resource adequacy.

Affordability concerns have dominated energy policy discussions in New England since consumers were hit with price spikes in the winter of 2024/25. Costs remained high over the past winter, which was the most expensive winter in the history of ISO-NE’s wholesale markets. (See 2025/26 Most Expensive Winter in History of ISO-NE Markets.)

“Everybody is acutely aware that we are already in this affordability crunch,” said Noah Berman, senior policy advocate at the Acadia Center. With the potential for data center demand on the horizon, “legislators are thinking about this … and are trying to get out ahead of it.”

In PJM, the data center boom has contributed to a rapid increase in forecast demand and skyrocketing capacity prices in recent capacity auctions. (See PJM Capacity Prices Hit $329/MW-day Price Cap.) Nationally, data center demand also drove increased coal-fired generation and overall power sector emissions in 2025.

“People are seeing what’s happening in PJM … in PJM [data centers] are absolutely causing price spikes,” Berman said.

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