U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright recently issued an emergency order directing the PJM Interconnection, in coordination with Constellation Energy Corporation, to ensure Units 3 and 4 of the Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania remain available to operate.
The units were originally slated to shut down on May 31, 2025.The new order is in effect beginning on May 25, 2026, through August 22, 2026.
PJM expressed support for the original Eddystone DOE emergency order, noting that it has “repeatedly documented and voiced its concerns over the growing risk of a supply and demand imbalance driven by the confluence of generator retirements and demand growth. Such an imbalance could have serious ramifications for reliability and affordability for consumers.”
Wright first ordered that the two Eddystone Generating Station units remain online past their planned retirement date in a May 30, 2025 emergency order. Subsequent orders were 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," DOE said.
Eddystone Generating Station is owned and operated by Constellation. It is a six-unit, 820-megawatt power plant, located on the Delaware River in Eddystone, Pennsylvania, just south of Philadelphia.
Eddystone Units 3 and 4, each with 380 MW capacity, are subcritical steam boiler-turbine generator units that can run on either natural gas or oil, depending on market conditions. These units were installed between 1967 and 1970.
Units 10 and 20 and 30 and 40, with a total combined capacity of 60 MW, are pairs of oil fueled peaking units that run during periods of high demand. These units were installed in 1967 and 1970, respectively.