emergency order

The last coal-fired power generation unit in Washington state, scheduled to close by year-end, is the latest U.S. coal facility ordered to remain in operation by the Trump administration. The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) on December 16 told TransAlta, a Calgary, Canada-based independent power producer (IPP), to keep the 730-MW, coal-fired Centralia Unit 2 […]

The Trump administration’s unprecedented use of emergency grid authorities entered a second phase in August 2025, as the Department of Energy (DOE) extended three critical reliability orders. The measures signal that this year’s historic string of federal interventions—staked in Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act—are likely to continue beyond the traditional summer peak and […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its fifth 202(c) emergency order this year, directing PJM Interconnection to override environmental limits and dispatch an oil-fired power generating unit in Maryland strictly as needed to avert possible blackouts in the Baltimore region. The July 28 order, issued under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, authorizes […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its third Section 202(c) emergency order in the past two weeks, this time to bolster reliability in PJM Interconnection by compelling Constellation Energy to keep Units 3 and 4 of its dual-fuel Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania open beyond their scheduled retirement date of May 31, 2025. The […]

FirstEnergy Corp.’s competitive arm FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) and several key subsidiaries, including FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC), on March 31 sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FirstEnergy said the move would facilitate an “orderly financial restructuring” and accelerate its strategy to become a fully regulated utility. FES—the parent company of FE Aircraft Leasing Corp., FirstEnergy Generation, […]

A day after FirstEnergy Corp.’s competitive arm notified PJM Interconnection it would close four uneconomic nuclear units—a total of 4 GW—in Ohio and Pennsylvania between 2020 and 2021, it urged Energy Secretary Rick Perry to issue an emergency order directing the regional transmission organization (RTO) to secure nuclear and coal capacity for long-term reliability. FirstEnergy […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued an unprecedented emergency order on April 14 to keep open a power plant that had been slated for shutdown under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in a bid to secure electric reliability. The DOE’s order was issued under the Federal Power Act Section 202(c). It inaugurates the […]