Episode
PJM and ERCOT navigate a capacity rollercoaster
- Podcast
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
- Published
- Feb 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2408
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/catalyst-with-shayle-kann-4458041/episodes/pjm-and-ercot-navigate-a-capacity-rollercoaster/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/catalyst-with-shayle-kann-4458041/pjm-and-ercot-navigate-a-capacity-rollercoaster.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Last year, the PJM capacity crunch became a focal point for an entire industry struggling to navigate the explosive growth of hyperscaler data centers. Yet even in the first two months of 2026, capacity prices have continued to skyrocket, and the economics of energy generation have only become more tenuous. In this episode, Shayle Kann talks to Paul Segal, the CEO of LS Power. A major player in the space, LS Power owns a diverse portfolio of generation, storage, and transmission assets across the U.S. Shayle and Paul dive into the volatility currently defining the two most talked-about power markets in the country: PJM and ERCOT. They cover topics like: How PJM flipped nearly overnight from a state of "stasis" to a capacity shortage The federal government's emergency order to make large data centers "pay their way" Why 10 gigawatts of expected load failed to show up during the recent Texas winter storm Why Paul sees ERCOT as a “cyclical” market that is currently difficult for new gas generation, despite massive load growth Paul’s strategy for ensuring sufficient “bridge” generation before new large-scale projects come online Resources Catalyst: PJM and the capacity crunch Latitude Media: PJM’s $178 billion fork in the road Catalyst: The potential for flexible data centers Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by Uplight. Uplight activates energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy—improving grid resilience and energy affordability while accelerating decarbonization. Learn how Uplight is helping utilities unlock flexible load at scale at uplight.com. Catalyst is brought to you by An…