The Department of Energy on May 30 issued an emergency order directing the PJM Interconnection, in coordination with Constellation Energy, to ensure certain generation units at the Eddystone Generation Station in Pennsylvania remain available for operation.
The order was issued by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright pursuant to Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act.
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.
“PJM has recently stated its system faces ‘growing resource adequacy concern’ due to load growth, the retirement of dispatchable resources, and other factors,” the order notes. “Upcoming retirements, including the planned retirement of Unit 3 and Unit 4 of the Eddystone Generating Station in Eddystone, Pennsylvania, will exacerbate these resource adequacy issues.”
PJM indicates that resource constraints could exist within the service territory under peak load conditions, stating that “available generation capacity may fall short of required reserves in an extreme planning scenario,” the order said.
The order noted that in its February 2023 assessment “Energy Transition in PJM: Resource Retirements, Replacements & Risks,” PJM highlights the increasing risk of reliability risk in the coming years due to the “potential timing mismatch between resource retirements, load growth and the pace of new generation entry” under “low new entry” scenarios for renewable generation.
In December 2024, PJM filed revisions with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to Part VII of its Open Access Transmission Tariff, known as the Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI), to address near-term resource adequacy concerns.
In a February 2025 order, FERC accepted the revisions and found “the possibility of a resource adequacy shortfall driven by significant load growth, premature retirements, and delayed new entry,” the order said.
In March 2025 congressional testimony, PJM found “a growing resource adequacy concern” due to a combination of load growth, the retirement of dispatchable resources, and other factors, according to the DOE order.
Through 2030, PJM anticipates reliability risk from increasing electricity demand, generator retirement outpacing new resource construction, and characteristics of resources in PJM’s interconnection queue, the order said.
Eddystone Units 3 and 4 have a planned retirement date of May 31, 2025.
“The retirement of these units would further decrease available dispatchable generation within PJM’s service territory,” the order said.
Pursuant to Executive Order 14262, Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid (EO 14262), DOE is developing a methodology to identify current and anticipated reserve margins for all regions of the bulk-power system regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
EO 14262 requires this methodology to be published by July 7, 2025, and be used to establish a protocol to identify which generation resources within a region are critical to system reliability and prevent identified generation resources from leaving the bulk power system.
DOE plans to use this methodology to further evaluate Eddystone Units 3 and 4.
“Given the emergency nature of resource adequacy concerns, the declared state of national energy emergency, the responsibility of PJM to ensure maximum reliability on its system, and the ability of PJM to identify and dispatch generation necessary to meet load requirements, I have determined that, under the conditions specified below, operational availability and economic dispatch of the aforementioned Eddystone Units 3 and 4 is necessary to best meet the emergency and serve the public interest for purposes of FPA section 202(c),” Wright wrote in the order.
The order said the determination is based on, among other things:
• The emergency nature of the potential load stress due to aforementioned resource adequacy concerns, and the potential loss of power to homes and local businesses in the areas that may be affected by curtailments, presenting a risk to public health and safety.
• The potential shortage of electric energy, shortage of facilities for the generation of electric energy, and other causes in the region support the need for the Eddystone Units to contribute to system reliability.
• PJM’s responsibility to ensure maximum reliability on its system, and, with the authority granted in the order, its ability to identify and dispatch generation, including the Eddystone Units, necessary to meet the load demands.
The order is limited in duration to align with the anticipated emergency circumstances. “Because the additional generation may result in a conflict with environmental standards and requirements, I am authorizing only the necessary additional generation on the conditions contained in this order,” with reporting requirements detailed in the order, Wright said.
By June 15, 2025, PJM needs to provide the Department of Energy with information concerning the measures it has taken and is planning to take to ensure the operational availability of the Eddystone Units consistent with the public interest, the order said.
“PJM shall also provide such additional information regarding the environmental impacts of this Order and its compliance with the conditions of this Order, in each case as requested by the Department of Energy from time to time. “
In addition, PJM and Constellation Energy were directed to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission any tariff revisions or waivers necessary to effectuate the order.
The order “shall not preclude the need for the Eddystone Units to comply with applicable state, local, or Federal law or regulations following the expiration of this Order.”
The order will expire on August 28, 2025, with the exception of the reporting requirements detailed in the order.
