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In another compelling indictment of America’s recent energy policies, the nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO) is on high alert as a “heat dome” over the mid-Atlantic region of the country threatens to push its power provision capabilities to the breaking point.
PJM – which coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of thirteen states and Washington, D.C. – announced a “maximum generation alert” on Sunday (June 22, 2025) in advance of the heat dome’s arrival.
The organization issues such alerts “in advance of conditions that may require all generators to operate at their maximum output capability.” PJM also issued a “load management alert” for consumers – providing them with “advance notification that load management action may be declared.”
In anticipation of such situations, PJM utilizes demand response programs which “pay customers in advance” if they sign up to “allow reduction of their electricity use in emergencies.”
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As of Monday morning (June 23, 2025), PJM was anticipating a maximum peak load of 160,494 megawatts (MW) for its service area – well above last year’s summer peak of 152,700 MW. While the utility has a total generating capacity of 171,583 MW scheduled to meet this need, the heat dome is expected to linger for several days – inviting a prolonged supply-demand dance.
“We simply cannot stress this enough: it will be dangerously hot the next three days,” National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters noted, citing triple-digit heat indices across much of the mid-Atlantic region.
PJM’s current struggles underscore a broader national energy challenge – one caused by years of short-sighted policies pushed by eco-radical interests. In February 2023, the RTO issued a report (.pdf) which warned “the amount of generation retirements appears to be more certain than the timely arrival of replacement generation resources.”
In other words, power was being taken offline faster than it was being added.
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RELATED | NUKEGATE REBOOT MOVING FORWARD
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In yet another unwise decision, the expansion of natural gas infrastructure – which has been the driving force in reduced American carbon dioxide outputs over the past two decades – was either delayed or deferred by numerous power providers in an effort to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2050.
Two years ago, South Carolina policymakers were urged to join PJM – a recommendation they wisely declined. The Palmetto State is instead moving forward with a plan to transition a dormant coal-fired generation facility near Canadys, S.C. into one of the nation’s largest natural gas facilities.
The Canadys natural gas plant is scheduled to generate an estimated 2,000 MW of energy – which will help meet rising demand and allow for the retirement of additional coal-fired facilities. South Carolina is also considering a reboot of a proposed nuclear facility scrapped in 2017.
FITSNews has kept close tabs on energy issues for years – endorsing policies which “keep lights on and motors running” at a minimum cost to consumers. Count on us to continue tracking this industry and decisions made by our elected officials regarding our state’s energy future.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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1 comment
From what I read, in the 2025 Legislative session, our dear Legislators and Henry McMaster voted to make it even easier for our electricity providers to anally rape us, as well as giving them a big barbed wire wrapped strap-on to do it with. Our electric rates have skyrocketed in recent years and it looks like our elected officials decided to make it even easier for them to be increased. In a time where electric rates need to be reigned in, this is unacceptable. But hey, CEO’s need big raises and shareholders are supposed to be guaranteed profits each and every year, right?
How about a list of every Legislator who voted for this travesty?