Grid operator PJM orders emergency steps to avoid large-scale US power outages

PJM, the largest U.S. power grid operator, said it ordered generators to run at maximum output and bring idle power plants online immediately on Thursday evening, as it faced escalating stress ​from a heat dome.

PJM's orders, detailed on its emergency procedures website, were aimed at ​preserving reliability as it sought to maintain power on a grid serving 67 ⁠million people across the Mid-Atlantic, South and Washington, D.C., regions and the world's largest concentration ​of data centers.

Even before this week's heat wave that sent temperatures soaring toward 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 ​degrees Celsius), PJM had been straining to overhaul a system pushed to the brink by surging energy consumption by data centers and electric vehicles.