Unseasonable heat across North America is straining power grids and forcing operators to delay scheduled autumn maintenance.
Reader brief
Through the Reader lens: A significant heatwave across North America is pushing electricity demand to record levels while power grids are simultaneously trying to perform seasonal equipment maintenance. Grid operators like MISO and PJM are experiencing substantial generation outages, forcing them to order industrial curtailments and request waivers on emissions rules. This strain highlights the increasing pressure on aging power infrastructure from climate-driven weather patterns and rising electricity consumption from data centers.
What to watch next
- Ongoing power demand in PJM and MISO regions through the weekend
- Potential impact of extended heat on aging power infrastructure
- Federal government decisions on emissions waiver requests
What was said2
Attributed, verbatim. Every quote is checked against the article it came from. One that does not match is not shown.
Gary Cunningham
2 quotes“is starting to show signs of its age when trying to stay working”
In the article
…are coming off a summer of brutal heat that prompted repeated federal orders to run at full blast. That’s put additional stress on a system facing growing industrial and data center demand. PJM’s generation fleet “ is starting to show signs of its age when trying to stay working ,” said Gary Cunningham, a director at Tradition Energy. Wholesale power prices probably will remain elevated across Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and western Pennsylvania through Thursday, Cunningham added. Autumn in the…
“plays well into the narrative of PJM needing more generation capacity, and needing it NOW, even before new demands to meet data center requirements come”
In the article
…plant operators are finding there is no off-season. The artificial intelligence boom is also boosting overall electricity demand, which means critical equipment doesn’t get much of a break. Unseasonable weather “ plays well into the narrative of PJM needing more generation capacity, and needing it NOW, even before new demands to meet data center requirements come ,” Cunningham wrote in an email. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com ©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.…