PJM Recalls Maintenance Outages as DOE Emergency Order Runs Through Oct. 16 With 60 Gigawatts Offline

Since PJM Interconnection applied for a federal emergency order on Oct. 11, the largest grid operator in the country has stacked up alerts, called back planned maintenance and watched wholesale power prices jump. The cause is a stretch of unseasonable heat landing on top of the fall maintenance season, when plants are normally taken offline because demand is low.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed DOE Order No. 202-26-50 on Oct. 12 under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. It took effect Tuesday, Oct. 13, and runs through Friday, Oct. 16, the DOE said.

What the order allows

The order directs PJM to dispatch specified generating units. It also lets PJM 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 firm load interruptions, meaning blackouts, can occur.

PJM can ask its transmission owners and electric distribution companies to bring those backup resources online. The 202(c) authority also gives PJM temporary relief from environmental permit restrictions on some generating units.

PJM serves more than 67 million customers in 13 states and Washington, D.C. That includes millions of residents in New Jersey.

The numbers behind the squeeze

PJM forecast demand of about 111,500 MW or higher on Tuesday. It projected Wednesday would come within 900 MW of its reserve margin, with anticipated generation outages reaching 61,591 MW across its footprint, according to the DOE order. The most acute stress was expected in the BGE, PEPCO and Dominion zones.

About 60 gigawatts of capacity was offline Tuesday, roughly one-third of PJM's fleet, Bloomberg reported. Transfer limits on key lines make it harder to move power to the stressed areas. The DOE order names the Conastone–Peach Bottom 500 kV line and the Crete–St. Johns 345 kV tie with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).

Prices reacted. Bloomberg reported that spot power at PJM's Western hub reached $1,021 per megawatt-hour Tuesday afternoon, more than double the day-ahead average for that hour. Day-ahead prices for Wednesday rose 28% to $295.83 per megawatt-hour, the highest daily average since mid-July.

Bloomberg also reported that temperatures in parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic could run more than 25 degrees Fahrenheit above seasonal norms, with highs near 90°F in Washington by midweek.

The alerts, in order

PJM issued a Maximum Generation Alert on Monday, Oct. 12. The alert tells transmission and generation owners to defer or cancel non-essential testing and maintenance. It also warns neighboring operators that PJM exports may be curtailed.

A Capacity Advisory covers Monday through Wednesday. PJM says it is the first of its kind under emergency procedures its members endorsed in June 2026. It was built for moments when projected conditions show an imminent capacity shortfall.

PJM then recalled previously scheduled generation and transmission outages, effective at noon today, Oct. 14.

MISO, which covers parts of 15 states plus Manitoba, is dealing with its own strain. Spokeswoman McKenzie Barbknecht said "unseasonably warm temperatures combined with generation outages and lower-than-normal wind generation are creating challenging grid conditions."

What PJM says

A PJM spokesperson told Newsweek the grid operator anticipates no customer impacts and that customers need not take any action. The spokesperson added that DOE has granted similar emergency orders multiple times this year.

PJM's own statement frames the episode as structural. "Increased baseload electricity demand is growing faster than new capacity can come onto the system," the operator said, and "unpredictable weather patterns are providing fewer days to perform important maintenance or construction." PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields made the same point on the maintenance squeeze.

PJM also said it is "confident that our procedures, along with the DOE orders, gives us additional tools to maintain our reserve margins and allow us to operate reliably."

The backdrop

September 2026 was the warmest September in the U.S. since records began in 1895, averaging 69.4°F, or 1.5°F above September 2025. It was the fourth month this year to set a record, alongside March, July and August. PJM's market monitor reported that average peak consumption rose 2.2% in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

Data center demand is the main driver of load growth in the region, and new generation and transmission cannot be built fast enough to keep pace.

The cushion for winter is also thinner. PJM's outlook for winter 2025-26 projected a reserve margin of 7,500 MW after expected outages, exports and other adjustments, down from 8,700 MW the previous winter. PJM warned then that demand was growing faster than new generation.

No blackouts have been reported in connection with this week's alerts. It is not yet clear what happens after the DOE order lapses Friday, Oct. 16. Whether PJM seeks another extension will show how much of this fall's maintenance backlog the grid can absorb before winter.