PJM Called the DOE
A second 202(c) emergency order in five months let PJM curtail large loads — a functioning hourly market creates that flexibility without compulsion
PJM called the DOE on a Sunday. By Monday morning, data centers across Virginia and Maryland were on notice: if the grid gets stressed enough, your power gets cut first.
The DOE issued a 202(c) emergency order on 18 May giving PJM authority to curtail large loads as a last resort before rolling blackouts — the second such order in five months, granted within hours of the request.
Our team was watching this unfold in real time. The signals weren't subtle:
- Western Hub pushed past $1,000/MWh.
- Dominion hit weekly load records.
- Multiple transmission constraints hit the $2,000/MWh shadow price cap simultaneously.
All of it driven by cooling load along the I-95 corridor, where data center density is highest.
A 202(c) is a blunt instrument. What it's trying to manufacture — flexibility from large loads during grid stress — is something a functioning hourly bilateral market creates naturally.
Most data centers are buying power on flat, fixed structures. That means no price signal and no incentive to reduce load when the grid is under stress. The only tool left is compulsion.
Flip it: a load settling against real hourly prices sees Western Hub at $1,000/MWh as a direct financial signal to shed load or shift to backup generation. No emergency order needed.
That's the gap a functioning hourly bilateral market closes — generators and large loads trading directly, on hourly contracts. Not monthly blocks. Not annual structures. Hourly, the way power actually moves through the grid.
With Dominion alone carrying 25 GW of large load requests queued before 2032, the pressure on emergency mechanisms will only grow. The better path is letting price signals do their job.