The Department of Energy (DOE) issued another emergency order Thursday to keep units at a Pennsylvania oil and gas plant running to stave off blackouts as an energy crisis looms over the region that Democrats helped unleash.
DOE initially issued an emergency order to keep the plant running on May 30 and extended the life of the plant again on Thursday over power outage concerns. The Pennsylvania Eddystone Generating Station is situated on the major grid operator PJM Interconnection (PJM), which may soon face an electricity crisis caused by aggressive green policies pushed by Democrats, energy sector experts explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation previously.
“With unprecedented energy demand and resource retirements outpacing new generation additions, the country is facing an energy emergency. Today’s order proves that the Trump Administration is dedicated to confronting this critical issue,” said DOE Secretary Chris Wright Thursday. “This administration considers power outages and soaring energy costs to be unacceptable.”
PJM helps provide power to all or portions of 13 states on the East Coast as well as Washington, D.C. In partnership with Constellation Energy, PJM will continue to run the units for at least another 90 days, according to the DOE order.
Several Democratic governors staring down surging energy costs have tried to pin the blame on PJM for their energy woes, though PJM previously told the DCNF that this equated to “pointing fingers.” Democratic Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Wes Moore of Maryland, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Matt Meyer of Delaware have all railed against PJM in recent statements while pushing policies that favor intermittent green energy sources.
Electricity rates and grid instability have been climbing across the East Coast for years, especially in states that have leaned heavily on green energy technologies while moving away from reliable power sources like coal. Consumers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have seen a spike in electricity costs, and these states have all committed to net-zero goals or plans to phase out coal plants in an effort to cut carbon emissions.
“PJM doesn’t write policy. PJM has to work within the policy and political realities that they get from the states in that region,” André Béliveau, senior manager of energy policy at the Commonwealth Foundation, told the DCNF previously.
Amy Cooke, co-founder and president of Always on Energy Research and the director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center previously told the DCNF that “PJM is trying to keep the lights on. … These governors passed unrealistic goals of these net-zero clean grids, and now they don’t want to own their bad policy. … Their fantasy is meeting reality.”
The DOE has issued several emergency orders lately to keep different power plants running over blackout concerns, most recently extending an order to keep a Michigan coal plant running on Aug. 21. Notably, the agency stated in a July grid reliability report that blackouts are projected to increase by a factor of 100 in 2030 if aging energy infrastructure is not adequately replaced by more reliable power sources.
Former President Joe Biden’s push for intermittent green energy sources and stringent environmental regulations strained America’s grid, several energy experts and Wright have argued. In contrast, President Donald Trump has moved to axe regulations he deems burdensome to boost more conventional energy sources and declared a national energy emergency upon his return to the Oval Office.
“PJM has previously documented 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,” a PJM spokesperson told the DCNF. “PJM supports the U.S. Department of Energy’s extension of its order, originally issued May 30.”
“Governor Shapiro is laser-focused on taking real action to lower Pennsylvanians’ energy costs through his commonsense, all-of-the-above energy plan to build more power in the Commonwealth, create a more reliable, affordable energy grid, and position the Commonwealth to continue to be a national energy leader for decades to come,” Will Simons, spokesperson for Shapiro’s office, told the DCNF. “Independent studies have shown that if passed into law, the Governor’s plan will save Pennsylvanians millions on their energy bills while creating billions of dollars in energy investment. That’s why the Governor’s plan is supported by a broad coalition of leaders from the energy industry, organization labor and environmental groups, and consumer advocates.”
Murphy, Moore and Meyer’s offices did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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