DOE Emergency Order for PJM Grid Runs Through Friday, Oct. 16, With Data Center Backup Generators Eligible to Run

Wright signed Order No. 202-26-50 on Monday, Oct. 12, and since it took effect Tuesday, Oct. 13, PJM Interconnection has had emergency federal authority to squeeze extra power out of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest grid. As of today, Thursday, Oct. 15, that authority has one day left. It runs through Friday, Oct. 16.

PJM serves roughly 65 million to 67 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

What the order allows

Wright issued the order under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. PJM filed its request on Sunday, Oct. 11, warning that without federal action an imminent reliability emergency would threaten its ability to serve load.

The order lets PJM direct specific generating units to run. It also lets the grid operator call on backup generation, including units at data centers and large industrial and commercial sites, as a last resort before or during an Energy Emergency Alert Level 3. That is the stage at which rolling blackouts become possible.

PJM can ask its transmission owners and electric distribution companies to bring those resources online. The order also lets plants run past their normal emissions limits if needed.

Before the order, PJM had issued a Maximum Generation Alert and a Load Management Alert.

The numbers behind the request

PJM forecast demand of 111,500 megawatts or higher for Tuesday, Oct. 13. It projected that by Wednesday, Oct. 14, the system would sit within 900 MW of its reserve margin. That margin is the cushion held for sudden spikes or plant failures.

Anticipated generation outages stood at 61,591 MW, as plants sat offline for scheduled fall maintenance while unseasonably warm weather pushed up air-conditioning load. The tightest conditions were forecast for the BGE, PEPCO and Dominion zones, which cover Maryland, Washington and Virginia.

Temperatures are expected to relent by Oct. 16, the order's last day.

PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields told Fox News Digital the grid operator does not expect the emergency conditions to affect everyday customers. Another PJM spokesperson said no customer action is needed and that DOE has granted similar emergency orders several times this year. Federal officials and grid managers have said the order is designed to prevent interruptions, not to announce scheduled blackouts.

Two explanations for the squeeze

The administration and the grid operator describe the cause differently.

Wright said in a statement that "the previous administration's energy subtraction policies weakened the grid." He added that under President Trump, "we are reversing those failures." DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich made a similar argument, saying Biden-era policies had raised electricity costs and weakened infrastructure.

Shields pointed elsewhere. He said demand is growing faster than new generating capacity can come online. He also said unpredictable weather leaves fewer chances for maintenance and construction, so maintenance periods now carry reliability risks that operators used to face mainly in summer and winter.

PJM's independent market monitor has found that rising data center demand is the leading reason for tight capacity conditions and high prices in the market.

Those explanations are not necessarily exclusive, but they point at different fixes. One blames past federal policy. The other blames a load-growth problem that new plants and transmission lines have not been built fast enough to meet.

The cost question

The irony is hard to miss. Data centers are the main source of demand growth, and under this order their backup generators are among the resources PJM can tap in an emergency. Burning diesel to keep the grid up while the grid struggles to feed those same facilities is a trade-off the order makes explicit.

The environmental waiver is also real. Plants may run over pollution limits to keep power flowing, and no source has quantified how much extra emission, if any, results.

Wright framed the order as protecting affordability: "Energy shortfalls or unnecessary price increases are not options in this Administration." Whether the emergency dispatch ends up costing ratepayers more is not addressed in the order or in PJM's public statements.

What comes next

The order is set to lapse after Friday, Oct. 16. Neither DOE nor PJM has announced an extension. PJM's own spokesperson says similar orders have already been issued several times this year, which suggests the next request is a matter of weather and maintenance schedules rather than if.

The open question is structural. If planned maintenance windows no longer fit inside a grid carrying data center load, a four-day order will not solve it.