October Heat Pushed the Mid-Atlantic Grid to the Edge. Washington's Emergency Order Was Right, but the Real Fix Is More Power Plants
PJM warned it could come within 900 megawatts of its reserve margin as warm weather met fall maintenance outages, and the Energy Department issued an emergency order through Oct. 16. In our view, the order was the right tourniquet, and the cure is a fast, honestly priced build-out of reliable power.
By Clara Hughes
ALTAS WORLD NEWS OPINION | By Clara Hughes, Chief Opinion Editor | October 15, 2026 | 6-min read Blackout warnings are supposed to come in January cold snaps or August heat waves, not in the middle of October. Yet on Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright had to issue an emergency order to help keep the lights on across the mid-Atlantic, after the region's grid operator warned it could come within 900 megawatts of its reserve margin [1][2]. The order runs from Oct. 13 through Oct. 16 [1]. In our view, Wright was right to act. But an emergency order is a tourniquet, not a cure, and the cure is more reliable power plants. Key Takeaways DOE Order No. 202-26-50, requested by grid operator PJM Interconnection on Oct. 11, lets PJM run specified power plants beyond their normal operating limits and, as a last resort, direct data centers and other large users onto backup generators [1][2]. PJM forecast demand at or around 111,500 megawatts on Oct. 13, with generation outages expected to reach 61,591 megawatts during the fall maintenance season [2]. PJM issued Maximum Generation and Load Management alerts for Oct. 13 and 14 and called on demand-response customers to cut use [3][4]. DOE