[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10103-10104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03313]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[DOE Docket No. 202-22-4]


Emergency Order Issued to PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. To Operate 
Power Generating Facilities Under Limited Circumstances in the PJM 
Region as a Result of Extreme Weather

AGENCY: Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency 
Response, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of emergency action.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is 
issuing this Notice to document emergency actions that it has taken 
pursuant to the Federal Power Act. DOE issued an emergency order to PJM 
Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) to operate certain power generating 
facilities under limited circumstances as described further below. PJM 
is the regional transmission operator for 65 million people in thirteen 
states and the District of Columbia (PJM Region). The PJM Region 
experienced a significant drop in temperatures and high winds due to a 
severe winter weather system. As a consequence of the impact of wind 
and decreasing temperatures, the demand for electricity in the PJM 
Region rose to an unusually high peak load. While the vast majority of 
generating units in the PJM Region continued to function adequately 
under these stressed conditions, some units experienced operating 
difficulties due to cold weather or fuel limitations, primarily gas. 
Because the additional generation required to serve the PJM Region was 
anticipated to result in a conflict with environmental standards and 
requirements, DOE authorized only the necessary additional generation 
for PJM to sufficiently supply the amount of energy needed to prevent 
electrical disruption.

ADDRESSES: Requests for more information should be addressed by 
electronic mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this 
Notice, or for information on the emergency activities described 
herein, contact Kenneth Buell, (202) 586-3362, 
[email protected], or by mail to the attention of Kenneth Buell, 
CR-30, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585.
    The Order and all related information are available here: https://www.energy.gov/ceser/federal-power-act-section-202c-pjm-december-2022.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act

    The Department is issuing this Notice pursuant to 10 CFR 
1021.343(a) to document emergency actions taken in accordance with 
section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 824a(c)). FPA 
section 202(c) provides that ``[d]uring the continuance of any war in 
which the United States is engaged, or whenever the [Secretary of 
Energy] determines that an emergency exists by reason of a sudden 
increase in the demand for electric energy, or a shortage of electric 
energy or of facilities for the generation or transmission of electric 
energy, or of fuel or water for generating facilities, or other causes, 
the [Secretary of Energy] shall have authority, either upon [her] own 
motion or upon complaint, with or without notice, hearing or report, to 
require by order such temporary connections of facilities and 
generation, delivery, interchange, or transmission of electric energy 
as in [her] judgment will best meet the emergency and serve the public 
interest.
1. Request for Emergency Order From PJM
    On December 24, 2022, PJM submitted to the Department a Request for 
Emergency Order Under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act 
(Application) to maintain the security and reliability of the PJM 
system. In its Application, PJM cited a severe winter weather system 
and forecasted a supply deficiency to meet firm load on December 24, 
December 25, and December 26, 2022. PJM requested the authority to 
direct the operation of electric generating units identified in Exhibit 
A of its Application, as well as any other generating units subject to 
emissions or other permit limitations in the PJM Region set forth in 
the Order (``Specified Resources''), to operate up to their maximum 
generation output levels under the limited circumstances described in 
the Order. PJM stated that the emergency order it was requesting could 
result in exceedances of National Ambient Air Quality Standards under 
the Clean Air Act and other permit limitations. Given the permit limits 
of the Specified Resources, PJM anticipated that the additional 
capacity may not be made available absent an order under FPA section 
202(c).
2. PJM Order
    On December 24, 2022, the Under Secretary of Energy for 
Infrastructure, acting pursuant to delegated authority, issued Order 
No. 2022-22-4 (the Order). As set forth in the Order, the Under

[[Page 10104]]

Secretary for Infrastructure found that an emergency exists in the PJM 
Region due to a shortage of electric energy, a shortage of facilities 
for the generation of electric energy, and other causes, and that the 
issuance of the Order would meet the emergency and serve the public 
interest.
    The Order authorized PJM to dispatch the Specified Resources for 
the period beginning with the issuance of the Order on December 24, 
2022, to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 26, 2022, under 
the conditions set forth in the Order, including the following:
    (i) For any generation resource whose operator notifies PJM that 
the unit is unable, or expected to be unable, to produce at its maximum 
output due to an emissions or other limit in any federal environmental 
permit, the unit will be allowed to exceed any such limit only during 
any period for which PJM has declared an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 
Level 2 or Level 3 \1\ (during which time PJM will have triggered a 
Maximum Generation Emergency Action), except as described in certain 
limited circumstances in anticipation of an EEA Level 2 described below 
in item (iii). Once PJM declares that the EEA Level 2 event has ended, 
the unit would be required to immediately return to operation within 
its permitted limits. And at all other times, the unit would be 
required to operate within its permitted limits, except for the limited 
exceptions provided in the Order for operations in anticipation of an 
EEA Level 2 to prevent the cycling of units or facilitate the charging 
or pumping of other resources necessary for the EEA Level 2.
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    \1\ For more information on EEA levels, see https://nercstg.nerc.com/pa/rrm/ea/Pages/Energy-Emergency-Alerts.aspx.
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    (ii) For any generation resource whose operator notifies PJM that 
the unit is offline or would need to go offline due to an emissions or 
other limit in any federal environmental permit, PJM may direct the 
unit operator to bring the unit online, or to keep the unit online, and 
to operate at the level consistent with its permits but subject to the 
exceptions set forth in the Order. In this circumstance, the operator 
is allowed to make all of the unit's capacity available to PJM for 
dispatch during any period for which PJM has declared an EEA Level 2 or 
3 (during which time PJM has triggered a Maximum Generation Emergency 
Action), except as described in certain limited circumstances in 
anticipation of an EEA Level 2 described below in item (iii). Once PJM 
declares that such an EEA Level 2 event has ended and the Maximum 
Generation Emergency Action is discontinued, the unit would be required 
to immediately return to operating at a level below the higher of its 
minimum operating level or the maximum output allowable under the 
permitted limit.
    (iii) The Order granted PJM the authority to operate the Specified 
Units that are combined cycle generating units in certain limited 
circumstances in advance of declaring an EEA Level 2, Maximum 
Generation Emergency, or in between such events, where such operation 
or continued operation of the Specified Resource is reasonably 
necessary to avoid shutting down and restarting the Specified Resource. 
The Order further authorized PJM to operate the Specified Resources in 
certain limited circumstances in advance of declaring an EEA Level 2, 
Maximum Generation Emergency where such operation or continued 
operation of the Specified Resource is reasonably necessary to 
facilitate charging storage resources or pumping for pumped storage 
facilities that will be needed during an anticipated EEA Level 2. PJM 
is required to take measures to dispatch units for which cycling would 
otherwise be required in a manner reasonably intended to limit the 
duration and operating level of those units in such a way as to 
minimize exceedance of permit limitations consistent with the security 
and reliability of the PJM Region.
    (iv) Consistent with good utility practice, and notwithstanding 
standard merit order dispatch, PJM was required to exhaust all 
reasonably and practically available resources, including available 
imports, demand response and identified behind-the-meter generation 
resources selected to minimize an increase in emissions to the extent 
that such resources provide support to maintain grid reliability prior 
to dispatching the Specified Resources at levels above their permitted 
emissions levels. PJM was required provide a daily notification to the 
Department reporting each generating unit that has been designated to 
use the allowance and operated in reliance on the allowances contained 
in the Order.
    The Order requires that PJM provide a report by January 26, 2023, 
for the dates between December 24, 2022, and December 26, 2022, 
inclusive, on which the Specified Resources were operated. The report 
must include `(i) emissions data in pounds per hour for each Specified 
Resource unit, for each hour of the operational scenario, for CO, 
NOX, PM10, VOC, and SO2; (ii) 
emissions data must include emissions (lbs./hr.) calculated consistent 
with reporting obligations pursuant to operating permits, permitted 
operating/emission limits, and the actual incremental emissions above 
the permit limits; (iii) the number and actual hours each day that each 
Specified Resource unit operated in excess of permit limits or 
conditions; (iv) the amount, type and formulation of any fuel used by 
each Specified Resource; (v) all reporting provided under the Specified 
Resource's operating permit requirements over the last three years to 
the United States Environmental Protection Agency or local Air Quality 
Management District for the location of a Specified Resource; (vi) 
additional information requested by DOE as it performs any 
environmental review relating to the issuance of the Order; and (vii) 
information provided by the Specified Resource describing how the 
Specified Resource complied with applicable environmental requirements 
to the maximum extent feasible while operating consistent with the 
emergency conditions.
    The Order also requires PJM to submit a final report by February 
27, 2023, with any revisions to the information reported on January 26, 
2023. Consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act, the 
Department will prepare a Special Environmental Analysis of the 
environmental impacts of the Order that will include consideration of 
environmental justice. PJM will be responsible for the reasonable 
third-party costs of the Special Environmental Analysis.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February 
10, 2023, by Puesh M. Kumar, Director for the Office of Cybersecurity, 
Energy Security, and Emergency Response, pursuant to delegated 
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original 
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes 
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal 
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been 
authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for 
publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This 
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this 
document upon publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on February 13, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-03313 Filed 2-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P