U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has issued an emergency order aimed at maintaining grid reliability in the Mid-Atlantic region. The directive instructs PJM Interconnection, working with Constellation Energy, to keep Units 3 and 4 of the Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania operational beyond their scheduled retirement.
“With unprecedented energy demand and resource retirements outpacing new generation additions, the country is facing an energy emergency. Today’s order proves that the Trump Administration is dedicated to confronting this critical issue,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “This administration considers power outages and soaring energy costs to be unacceptable.”
According to the Department of Energy’s Grid Reliability Evaluation, if reliable power sources continue to be taken offline, power outages could increase significantly by 2030.
The two Eddystone units had already been ordered to remain online past their planned shutdown date under a previous emergency order issued on May 30, 2025. Their continued operation over the last three months provided additional electricity during periods of high demand caused by heat waves in June and July.
The conditions that led to the initial emergency order have not changed, prompting this latest action from Secretary Wright. The new order will remain in effect from August 28 through November 26, 2025.
PJM has expressed concerns about resource adequacy for several years. In a February 2023 report, PJM highlighted risks related to the timing between retiring older resources and bringing new ones online as electricity demand grows. In December 2024 filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), PJM noted substantial increases in expected load additions and warned that its resource adequacy concerns are rising quickly (https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118040/witnesses/HHRG-119-IF03-Wstate-AsthanaM-20250325.pdf).
In March 2025 testimony before Congress, PJM President & CEO Manu Asthana reiterated these concerns by stating there is a “growing resource adequacy concern . . . impacting a significant part of our country.”
