DOE issues temporary emergency operating order for Mid-Atlantic grid
PJM was directed to run specified units as needed ahead of anticipated high demand and planned generator and transmission outages.
Event / data period: 2026-10-12
Published: · Updated:
The U.S. energy secretary issued an emergency order for the Mid-Atlantic power grid on October 12, following an application from PJM Interconnection. DOE cited anticipated elevated demand, a high rate of planned generator outages during autumn maintenance and numerous planned transmission outages as reliability concerns.
The order directs PJM to dispatch specified units and authorize their operation as needed. It also allows backup generation to be called as a last resort before or during an Energy Emergency Alert 3. The order is effective from October 13 through October 16. DOE’s announcement does not say the authority was actually used or that the planned outages caused a blackout; it describes a temporary operational reliability measure.
Data
PJM emergency operating order
Temporary grid reliability order issued after PJM application.
- · Occurred
DOE issued emergency order
PJM was authorized to operate specified units as needed.
- · Scheduled
Order took effect
The effective period ran through October 16.
Methodology
Issued October 12 and effective October 13–16. This record describes the order dates, not actual generation dispatched.
Updated:
Subjects and places
Subject proposals
- Energy and resourceSuggested
- Preserved editorial category/topic; broad candidate onlywww.energy.gov ↗
Geographic references
Only source-provided geographic references are shown. Opening an external map is optional. Optional story maps use OpenStreetMap. Opening a map sends your IP address and this site’s address to the map provider; location data remains readable as text without loading the map.
- United States · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredwww.energy.gov ↗