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Update: US DOE Issues Order to Keep Pennsylvania Power Plant Units Online to Support Mid-Atlantic Grid

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(Adds information from DOE's emergency order related to Wagner Generating Station from paragraphs 9 to 13)

The US Department of Energy on Thursday said it has renewed an emergency order requiring a fossil-fired power plant in Pennsylvania to remain operational to address grid reliability issues in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered PJM Interconnection, in coordination with Constellation Energy (CEG), to keep Units 3 and 4 of the Eddystone Generating Station available beyond their planned retirements and to use economic dispatch to limit consumer costs, the Department said in a statement.

Eddystone Units 3 and 4, each with 380 megawatt capacity, are subcritical steam boiler-turbine generator units that can run on either natural gas or oil, depending on market conditions, according to a document on the DOE website, which added that these units were installed between 1967 and 1970.

These units were initially scheduled to shut down on May 31, 2025.

Wright first issued an emergency order on May 30 last year to keep the units online past their planned retirement, with subsequent orders issued later in 2025 and 2026.

"Keeping these units operational over the past year strengthened energy security in the PJM region, as demonstrated when PJM called on the units to generate electricity during heat waves that hit the region in the summer and during Winter Storm Fern," the statement said.

The units generated 26,971 megawatt-hours between June and December last year, the statement said, citing US Environmental Protection Agency data.

The order is effective from May 25 through Aug. 22.

In a separate statement on Thursday, the DOE said Wright issued an emergency order permitting PJM Interconnection to operate specified units at Talen Energy's (TLN) Wagner Generating Station in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to meet anticipated electricity demand, following a request from PJM.

The order will enhance grid stability and reduce the risk of energy shortfalls in 13 states and the District of Columbia, the statement said.

"Due to the need to rely on Wagner Unit 4 during the atypically high seasonal temperatures and generator outages, PJM assessed that in such circumstances, there are insufficient generation run hours remaining due to the Operating Limits on Wagner Unit 4," the statement said.

This order, issued under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, is effective from May 22 through to Aug. 19.

The DOE had previously permitted PJM to allow the dispatch and operation of Unit 4 in excess of its operating limit.

"The 'growing resource adequacy concern' that PJM cited in its July 2025 request still exists today," the DOE said in the statement.

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