Heat wave triggers federal emergency action on the PJM grid
United States Infrastructure and Power Grid – DOE issued two time-limited emergency orders as PJM braced for extreme heat and projected peak demand.
Federal officials stepped in on June 30 as hot weather and rising demand pushed PJM into a tighter reliability posture. The Energy Department issued two emergency orders under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, and both run from 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 30 through 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 3.
One order directs specified units to operate as needed to maintain reliability. The second gives PJM authority, working with transmission owners and electric distribution companies, to direct backup generation at large loads such as data centers as a last resort before declaring an Energy Emergency Alert 3 or during one.
Why this matters
This is not a nationwide grid rule change. It applies to PJM, the regional transmission organization that FERC says manages reliability and wholesale power markets across all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia. For households, the immediate point is simple: operators are taking temporary steps to manage expected peak demand.
PJM asked for the action on June 27 and again on June 29, saying extreme heat and high demand could strain supply. Reuters reported PJM was projecting peak load of about 159,563 megawatts on July 1 and 162,860 megawatts on July 2. Those are projections, not final demand numbers, but they show why the operator wanted backup tools ready before the worst of the heat.
What the backup-generator order changes
The second order is aimed at large power users first. PJM’s special notice says it requested permission to use emergency backup generation so transmission owners, electric distribution companies, and load-serving entities could coordinate in advance with large loads. Ordinary household customers were not told to switch to generators.
PJM’s Markets & Operations page showed a hot-weather alert already in place through July 3, signaling that operators were in active reliability mode while temperatures stayed elevated.
What to watch next
The key question is whether the grid holds through July 3 without deeper emergency steps or outages. If extreme heat lingers, PJM could issue more alerts, and DOE could extend or repeat emergency action. For now, the federal response is temporary and specific: keep the PJM system stable long enough to ride out the heat wave.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Energy press release: Energy Secretary Secures Mid-Atlantic Grid Ahead of Period of Hot Weather
- PJM Emergency Procedures special notice (Posting 105270)
- FERC PJM overview
- Reuters report: U.S. issues emergency order for PJM Interconnection as heatwave looms
- PJM Markets & Operations hot weather alert page
Discover more from Interactive News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.