2026.07.07 | DOE Section 202(c) Emergency Orders & PJM’s $12K LMP Spike

Extreme thermal stress across the Eastern Interconnection has triggered unprecedented federal emergency interventions, including rare Department of Energy Section 202(c) environmental waivers and massive regional capacity constraints. Under these emergency orders, PJM dispatched 6,000 megawatts of demand response and commanded hyperscale data centers of 50 megawatts or greater to transfer to behind-the-meter backup generators as real-time Western Hub LMPs surged to $12,222.75 per megawatt-hour. Grid operators, utility planners, and project developers must rapidly adapt their resource adequacy models and equipment procurement workflows to navigate severe reserve margin compression, impending PJM governance reforms, and FERC’s uncompromising material modification rules for interconnection queues. Current Events: The Electric Utility Today provides clinical, data-driven intelligence for professionals navigating the operational limits of the bulk power system.