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Largest U.S. power grid PJM escalates emergency actions to avoid blackouts
CNBC • • business
Key Points:
- PJM, the largest U.S. power grid operator, issued a federal alert to reduce electricity consumption due to generator outages, overloaded transmission lines, and increased air conditioning demand amid prolonged heat.
- The alert affects PJM's service area, which includes 67 million people across the Mid-Atlantic, South, and Washington, D.C.
- Utilities were instructed to cut electricity to customers under emergency consumption reduction contracts to manage the strain on the grid.
- Spot wholesale electricity prices in northern Virginia have spiked above $2,000 per megawatt hour, a significant increase from the typical $40 per MWh during normal conditions.
- The price surge is attributed to the high cost of delivering power over congested high-voltage transmission lines, according to PJM and industry analysts.
