My AC Has Been Running for 11 Days Straight. I'm Scared to Open My Electric Bill.
AI Image By Gemma I haven't turned my air conditioner off since June 23rd. Not once. Not even at night when it cools down slightly. Because it doesn't cool down. Not this summer. Not on the East Coast in July 2026, where temperatures have been sitting above 95°F for nearly two weeks and the forecast shows no meaningful relief until next week at the earliest. My AC runs. My bill climbs. And somewhere in my mailbox, an envelope is waiting that I'm genuinely not ready to open. Here's what's actually happening to the US power grid right now. PJM — the largest power grid operator in the US, serving 13 states and Washington DC — declared an emergency this week. Spot wholesale electricity prices in the region surged beyond $2,500 per megawatt hour. For context, the normal price when the grid isn't in distress is about $40 per megawatt hour. That's not a typo. Prices jumped from $40 to $2,500. In a week. Power prices from New York to Virginia are surging a...
.jpeg)