13 states and D.C. are under a federal power grid emergency. The Department of Energy is letting plants run past their pollution limits to keep the lights on. Here’s what it means for you

all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.

PJM filed its request on October 11. It warned that without federal action, “an imminent electric reliability emergency” would threaten transmission reliability and its ability to serve customers, citing a shortage of electric energy, a shortage of generating facilities and other causes.
Who is PJM, and why does it matter?

PJM coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity across a wide swath of the