Paula Conboy
Paula Conboy is the chair of PJM Interconnection's board of managers, overseeing governance of the 13-state US grid operator.
Paula Conboy, named chair of PJM Interconnection's Board of Managers in a 19 May letter, warned 13 US governors that data centre demand could shift grid costs onto ordinary bills unless states acted before PJM's September backstop procurement.
Last refreshed: 14 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What role does the chair of PJM's board play in the data-centre power crunch?
Timeline for Paula Conboy
Mentioned in: PJM wants 50 MW loads curtailable
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashSigned the 19 May board letter as PJM chair
Data Centres: Boom and Backlash: PJM warns 13 governors on grid costsBackground
Paula Conboy chairs PJM Interconnection's Board of Managers, the governing body overseeing the largest US grid operator, a position confirmed in a PJM letter dated 19 May 2026.
She is an energy economist and regulator with more than 25 years' experience. She chaired the Australian Energy Regulator from 2014 and earlier worked at the Ontario Energy Board, giving her a cross-border view of how different jurisdictions have handled surging electricity demand.
PJM's board sits above the grid operator's response to data centre growth, including its September backstop procurement and its FERC filing for a standing curtailment rule. Conboy's position puts her at the centre of how PJM balances new data-centre load against the cost to ordinary ratepayers across its 13-state footprint.
Conboy warned governors on grid costs
On 19 May, PJM's board chair Paula Conboy wrote to the governors of the 13 states in PJM's footprint, warning that data centre growth risked driving grid costs onto household bills. She flagged PJM's September backstop procurement as the Deadline: states that acted before then could redirect the added cost onto the data centres causing it, while those that did nothing let the existing tariff spread the cost across all ratepayers by default.
The warning came as PJM pursued a separate curtailment filing at FERC, a new tariff rule that would make loads of 50 MW or more curtailable from June 2027. Conboy's board sits above both tracks: the governors' letter and the FERC filing.