On July 28, the U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order to PJM Interconnection under which PJM will, in coordination with Talen Energy, operate Unit 4 at the Wagner Generating Station in Maryland “as PJM deems necessary beyond its environmental run-hour limitations through October 26, 2025.”
The order is the fifth emergency order authorized by section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has signed since assuming office earlier this year.
PJM requested the order to allow for the dispatch and operation of Unit 4 of the Maryland-based Wagner Generating Station in exceedance of its operating limit.
The order said that H.A. Wagner Generating Station Unit 4, a 397-MW unit, is constrained by an operating limit of no more than 438 hours of operation per calendar year when burning fuel oil.
The operating limit is included in a Consent Order entered into by Raven Power Ft. Smallwood, LLC, a subsidiary of Talen Energy, and the Maryland Department of the Environment, which was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on January 31, 2020.
PJM sought an emergency order pursuant to section 202(c) to allow for the dispatch and operation of the unit in exceedance of its operating limit, if and when needed, over the next 90 days.
As of July 21, 2025, Wagner Unit 4 has only 80 fuel burning hours remaining to operate for the duration of calendar year 2025.
The inability to run Wagner Unit 4 could result in adverse reliability impacts to service in the Baltimore Gas and Electric territory, and within PJM’s service territory more broadly, DOE said.
For the remainder of 2025, PJM anticipates the continued need to schedule Wagner Unit 4 in order to maintain reliable system operations during projected peak demand and/or increased flows on transmission facilities that are required to serve the BG&E Zone, the order said.
According to DOE, PJM anticipates that it will need to dispatch Wagner Unit 4 when forecast temperatures are high, approximately around 92 degrees in the Mid-Atlantic region and forecast loads in the PJM territory are around 151,000 MW.
PJM assesses that if another heatwave similar to that which occurred in late June 2025 were to occur, there are insufficient run hours remaining because of the Operating Limit on Wagner Unit 4.
Additional circumstances that could cause the need for increased scheduling of Wagner Unit 4 include high system demand, additional transmission facility outages, and generation outages or a combination of these factors, DOE said.
PJM’s operations in 2025 continue to rely upon Wagner Unit 4 at a rate that exceeds its 2024 rate. There were, for example, 11 instances where Wagner Unit 4 ran in January to support high loads, including the new all-time PJM winter peak.
PJM also ran the unit once in early June and ran the unit again for 100 hours over the 5-day extreme heat event during the week of June 23, 2025, the order said.
“PJM has indicated that the electricity output from Wagner Unit 4, when generated beyond its Operating Limit, would be needed to avoid firm load shedding that may be required under certain system conditions or transmission limitations impacting the BG&E Zone,” DOE said.
“Additionally, absent this order, in the limited circumstances when PJM is operating pursuant to its emergency procedures, PJM anticipates that residences, as well as numerous critical facilities, may lose electric service to all or parts of their facilities due to the lack of adequate generation or transmission.”
