PJM is facing a multi-year “energy emergency,” according to DOE. (Utility Dive)
The Energy Department has ordered Constellation to keep two 380-MW gas/oil units online until Nov. 26 (until the possibility of hot weather subsides). They were initially scheduled to retire on May 31.
The call is controversial. PJM ran those units during June’s heat wave, but the grid also exported 273K+ MWh at the same time—proof, state consumer advocates say, that there’s no crisis.
“A ‘growing concern’ is not an emergency,”wrote the group. “While we think PJM needs to do more to address both resource adequacy and related affordability concerns, that does not include keeping an aging power plant online at ratepayer subsidy that even its owner would prefer to retire.”