PJM under federal alert to cut power use as outages and heat drive Virginia wholesale prices above $2,000/MWh

According to CNBC, the largest U.S. power grid operator PJM said Friday it was under a federal alert to cut electricity consumption across its territory as it battled generator outages, heavy overloading on transmission lines and a surge in air-conditioning demand from prolonged heat. PJM said it told utilities to reduce electricity to customers who are under contract to cut consumption during emergencies; PJM serves 67 million people in the Mid-Atlantic, South and Washington, D.C., area. Spot wholesale electricity prices in northern Virginia have surged beyond $2,000 per megawatt hour this week, compared with about $40 per MWh when PJM is not in distress, with analysts and PJM operations data citing congestion on high-voltage lines as a key driver.