The Trump administration has issued an emergency order to help avert potential blackouts in 13 states, as unusually warm October weather puts added pressure on the electrical grid serving more than 60 million people.
The Department of Energy authorized PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator, to access additional power-generation resources as electricity demand rises while power plants and transmission facilities undergo scheduled maintenance.
Issued Monday under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, the order takes effect Tuesday and remains active through Friday, Oct. 16. It permits certain generating facilities to operate outside normal restrictions when necessary to preserve electricity supplies.
Power lines (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
PJM serves all or portions of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
PJM Interconnection told News Outlet that it does not expect the emergency conditions to disrupt everyday customers. However, the organization said increasing demand and more unpredictable weather are creating fresh reliability challenges for the grid.
PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields said electricity demand is expanding faster than new generation can be brought online. At the same time, unpredictable weather is reducing the windows available for essential maintenance and construction work.
Shields said scheduled maintenance has become a reliability concern during periods that grid operators once associated mainly with summer and winter demand peaks.
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order on American energy production after signing it during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House April 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“This order will help ensure millions of American families and businesses across the mid-Atlantic have access to affordable, reliable and secure electricity by making additional power generation, including backup power, available to use as needed,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
The emergency measure comes as temperatures in parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic are forecast to reach the 70s and 80s. The warmer conditions are expected to lift electricity demand while some generating units and transmission lines remain offline for maintenance.
Wright also faulted energy policies adopted under former President Joe Biden, saying limits on conventional energy production had undermined grid reliability.
Data centers depend on transmission lines and substations capable of delivering enormous amounts of power reliably, often requiring costly grid upgrades. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
The PJM order comes as the Energy Department advances separate efforts to reinforce the nation’s electric infrastructure.
The DOE recently announced plans to support 84 Tennessee Valley Authority transmission and distribution projects spanning eight states, with approximately $581 million in planned investment.
The initiative includes $250 million in federal funding and is projected to add about 2.5 gigawatts of grid capacity, improve reliability for 2.58 million families and businesses and support roughly 800 jobs.
The TVA initiative is separate from the PJM emergency order, and its final funding and regulatory approvals are still pending.
Representatives of the Department of Energy and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation did not immediately respond to News Outlet’s requests for comment.
