To prevent blackouts, Trump administration keeps another aging power plant online through summer

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 6:57 PM EDT, June 2, 2025


HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered another power plant, this time an oil and gas plant in Pennsylvania, to keep its turbines running through the hottest summer months as a precaution against electricity shortfalls in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid.

The department’s order to the grid operator, PJM Interconnection, regarding the Eddystone power plant just south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River, is the department’s second use of federal power under President Donald Trump to require a power plant to keep operating on the mainland United States.

Constellation Energy had planned to shut down Eddystone’s units 3 and 4 on Saturday, but Trump’s Department of Energy ordered the company to continue operating the units until at least Aug. 28. The units can produce a combined 760 megawatts. The department, in its order, cited PJM’s growing concerns about power shortfalls amid the shutdown of aging power plants and rising electricity demand.

PJM has projected significant growth in electricity use to power America’s fast-rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing platforms. Demand for electricity has spiked for the first time in decades. In addition to artificial intelligence, crypto mining, the broader electrification of society and bipartisan political pressure to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. are fueling new electricity demand.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-pennsylvania-eddystone-power-plant-e5eb5295a6b8de72636a9478e06fec4b

[progree]

1. The department took a similar step last week, to keep a coal-fired power plant operating in Michigan

From the OP's article...

The department took a similar step last week, ordering Consumers Energy to keep the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant open in Michigan past its Saturday retirement. ... The grid operator there, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, said the order was unnecessary, that there was no energy emergency there and that there should be enough energy in the region through the summer.

[progree]

2. Much more detail from Power Magazine article for anyone wanting to know

https://www.powermag.com/trump-administration-issues-third-emergency-order-to-prevent-pjm-power-shortfall/

The Eddington 3& 4 units are "peakers", 380 MW each, that can run on either natural gas or oil.

and, by the way,

Constellation also noted it is working with PJM to accelerate the restart of Three Mile Island {{nuclear unit}} as the Crane Clean Energy Center, seeking to bring it online in 2027 as “a long-term, clean, and reliable energy solution.” Constellation has underscored the urgency of the $1.6 billion project, which it announced last year as part of a landmark 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft.

More on Three Mile Island current status:
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5120581/three-mile-island-nuclear-power-plant-microsoft-ai

The unit being restarted is the unit that didn't have the partial meltdown back in 1979. It (the non-melty unit) was shut down in 2019. The melty unit never restarted after the 1979 accident, and there are no plans to.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Constellation is slowly becoming "THE ELECTRIC COMPANY"

(have an article in the queue for another they are doing)

I was thinking - they are trying to compete with Exelon... until I discovered this (missed by me when it happened in 2022 probably due to the pandemic) -

Exelon Completes Separation of Constellation, Moving Forward as Nation’s Premier Transmission and Distribution Utility Company

[progree]

4. Thanks, that helps. I had never heard of Constellation Energy until like maybe 2 years ago, so now I

know why.

I see the Meta deal in the news.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. CNBC had a blaring "breaking news" banner early this morning (6:34 am ET) about the Meta deal.

I finally posted about it (different source) - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143470813

And I had no idea who they were either. All I know is that in the recent past, Exelon bought our local electric company PECO (Philadelphia Electric Company), which was then renamed "PECO, An Exelon Company".

Had no idea that Constellation was a part of Exelon although since Exelon was going around buying up companies, I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone would hint at "anti-trust", so they broke up. The name had come up with respect to TMI and Microsoft out of nowhere but I was still in a fog about who and what they were.