Trump Administration Issues Third Emergency Order to Prevent PJM Power Shortfall

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its third Section 202(c) emergency order in the past two weeks, this time to bolster reliability in PJM Interconnection by compelling Constellation Energy to keep Units 3 and 4 of its dual-fuel Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania open beyond their scheduled retirement date of May 31, 2025.

The May 30-issued directive, another rare and significant federal intervention, aims to address acute resource adequacy concerns within PJM’s territory, which spans 13 states and the District of Columbia.

The DOE’s order states that PJM shall, in coordination with Constellation Energy, run specified units at the Eddystone Generating Station when PJM deems necessary, past their planned retirement date of May 31, 2025. While it expires on Aug. 28, 2025, the order essentially declares that “emergency exists in portions of the electricity grid” operated by PJM “due to a shortage of facilities for the generation of electric energy, resource adequacy concerns, and other causes, and that issuance of this Order will meet the emergency and serve the public interest.”

PJM Supportive of the Directive

In a statement sent to POWER on May 31, PJM expressed support for the directive, calling it “a prudent, term-limited step that will retain the covered generators for a 90-day period.” Over the past two years, “PJM has repeatedly documented and voiced its concerns over the growing risk of a supply and demand imbalance driven by the confluence of generator retirements and demand growth,” the grid operator said. The order will allow DOE, Constellation Energy, and PJM “to undertake further analysis regarding the longer-term need and viability of these generators,” it said.

The Eddystone Generating Station, located just south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River, is owned and operated by Constellation Energy. The facility’s six units have a combined nameplate capacity of 820 MW. Units 3 and 4—commissioned in the late 1960s and early 1970s—are each 380 MW subcritical steam turbine units that can operate on natural gas or oil, but the plant also includes four smaller oil-fired peaking units (Units 10, 20, 30, and 40) totaling 60 MW. The site’s original coal-fired supercritical units, Units 1 and 2, were retired in 2011 and 2012. Historically, Units 3 and 4 have provided valuable flexibility to PJM during periods of fuel price volatility or supply constraints.

Constellation formally moved to retire Eddystone Units 3 and 4 with a deactivation notice to PJM in December 2023, citing economic pressures and its broader shift toward a cleaner generating portfolio. In a February 2024 letter, PJM noted it did not identify reliability violations from the proposed retirement, and it granted Constellation the green light to push forward with its announced May 2025 retirement.

However, in December 2024, PJM proposed changes to its tariff under a new Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI), citing near-term resource adequacy concerns. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the revisions in February 2025, acknowledging “the possibility of a resource adequacy shortfall driven by significant load growth, premature retirements, and delayed new entry.”

PJM has in recent months repeatedly flagged that it is facing an urgent supply-demand dilemma compounded by surging power demand from electrification, data centers, and onshoring manufacturing. In January, the grid operator acknowledged a capacity shortage could affect its system as early as the 2026/2027 delivery year. As POWER has reported, the PJM expects its summer peak to climb about 70,000 MW to 220,000 MW over the next 15 years, while winter peaks are estimated at 210,000 MW by 2039. PJM, however, is also bracing for 40 GW of retirements by 2030, 60% of which is coal and 40% natural gas-fired.

The DOE’s order compels PJM and Constellation to take “all measures necessary” to ensure that the Eddystone units “are available to operate. Until August, “PJM is directed to take every step to employ economic dispatch of the units to minimize cost to ratepayers,” it states. “Constellation Energy is directed to comply with all orders from PJM related to the availability and dispatch of the Eddystone Units.”

Both entities will need to file any necessary tariff revisions or waivers at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to recover costs associated with the emergency operation, as allowed under federal law.

The order, notably, restricts operation to “the times and within the parameters determined by PJM for reliability purposes,” and mandates that all operations comply with environmental requirements “to the maximum extent feasible while operating consistent with the emergency conditions.” It also requires PJM to provide daily notifications regarding the units operation and compliance, and it will require PJM to submit, by June 15, a detailed report on steps taken to ensure operational availability and minimize environmental impact.

Third Major Federal Intervention

The Eddystone order marks the Trump administration’s third major federal intervention in U.S. power markets. On May 16, the DOE issued two emergency orders to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) following a full island-wide blackout and warnings that the grid could face up to 135 days of forced load shedding this summer. The orders required PREPA to dispatch more than 30 fossil-fueled generation units—including some mothballed assets—and accelerate vegetation management along key transmission corridors. The DOE found that “any major generation unit anywhere on the island would result in significant numbers of Puerto Ricans losing access to power,” and mandated 90-day emergency measures to stabilize the grid.

A week later, on May 23, the DOE ordered the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Consumers Energy to keep the 1,560-MW J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan available for operation through the summer, overriding a planned May 31 closure. That order cited the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)’s 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment, which warned of “elevated risk of operating reserve shortfalls” in the Midwest, owing to the retirement of thermal generation and reduced solar output. The Campbell order, like Eddystone, required economic dispatch, daily reporting, and compliance with environmental laws to the maximum extent practicable.

The measures reflect an aggressive posture by the DOE, which says it is acting in accordance with President Trump’s January 2025 declaration of a national energy emergency. Most recent 202(c) emergency orders have responded to active grid emergencies like hurricanes or extreme weather and focused on short-term generation dispatch actions.

“Maintaining access to affordable, reliable, and secure power is always our top priority, particularly during the summer months when electricity demand reaches its peak,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on Friday. “Americans should never be left wondering whether they will be able to turn on their lights or air conditioning. This emergency order helps keep money in consumers’ pockets while keeping their homes and businesses fully powered. Energy shortfalls or unnecessary price increases are not options in this Administration.”

However, critics—including environmental groups and some consumer advocates—argue that the order amounts to a bailout for uneconomic, aging fossil-fueled plants.

“Trump’s last minute emergency order—issued literally on the last day these power plants were set to operate—causes significant, expensive complications,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “Old units like Eddystone require both minor and major maintenance—maintenance that was deferred because of its planned retirement on May 31. Extending the life of the unit will force ratepayers to shell out money to cover expensive maintenance and overpay for expensive power that will result in American households paying even higher electricity bills, as Trump’s emergency order requires consumers to pay 100% of all costs to get the plant up and running, including a guaranteed profit for Constellation.”

—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).