Payments to power plant operators in biggest US grid hit price limit

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Payments to power plants in the largest U.S. electricity market, PJM Interconnection, hit a price cap for the second time this year on Wednesday as demand from data centers in the 13-state region grows faster than the construction of new electricity supplies.

The expansion of Big Tech's data centers have driven up so-called capacity prices in PJM by about 1,000% over the last year and a half, intensifying concerns about energy affordability for the one in five Americans in the U.S. Mid Atlantic and Midwest that the grid covers.

Prices reached $333.44 a megawatt day in the latest PJM capacity auction, compared to $329.17 in an auction held in July.