Pa. Power Plant to Stay Open Under Emergency Order

An Eastern Pa. natural gas power plant that had planned to close on May 31 has been ordered to continue to operate for at least 90 days under an emergency order issued by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The order, issued the day before the planned retirement of the Eddystone Generating Station units 3 and 4 in Delaware County, is to address “growing resource adequacy concerns” within the PJM Interconnection grid. PJM manages the electric grid for all or part of 13 states, including Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The plant is a peaking energy generation facility, which means it runs only during periods of high power demand. It is capable of producing 760 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Built between 1967 and 1970, its technology is older and it is not as efficient as newer generating facilities.

PJM in May issued its 2025 summer outlook, in which it indicated that it should have sufficient generation for normal peak demand, but also warned for the first time that its capacity could run short in more extreme conditions, such as an extended heat wave or natural disaster. The emergency order, which is authorized by the Federal Power Act, cites the concerns about adequacy this summer and other warnings issued by PJM about electric reliability in issuing the order.

PJM has been sounding alarms for several years as it faces rising electric demand from data centers, electrification of buildings, and other factors. At the same time, PJM is facing the retirement of fossil-fuel generating plants due to age and air emission policies. About 40 gigawatts of capacity is expected to be lost in the next five years. While there are a number of renewable energy projects, primarily solar, seeking connection to the grid, they don’t supply constantly available power, unless paired with battery storage.

The regional transmission organization has been undertaking a number of steps to address the growing supply-demand imbalance, by changing its interconnection rules and undertaking a Reliability Resource Initiative to address near-term concerns. The RRI, which was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is a one-time effort to move high-reliability, shovel-ready, generation projects to the front of its queue and allow them to be built before 2030.

The DOE issued another emergency order in May to keep a coal-fired Michigan plant running temporarily. The orders also require electric customers to pay for the costs of keeping the units in operation. The actions were met with criticism from environmental groups. “The Department of Energy’s move to keep these zombie plants online will have significant public health impacts and increase electricity costs for people in Michigan and Pennsylvania,” said Kit Kennedy, power sector managing director at the Natural Resources Defense Council in a statement.