This week's severe heat could push electricity use on the nation's largest power grid beyond a record set in 2006, according to the system's operator.
With parts of the eastern United States reaching triple-digit temperatures, grid officials asked the federal government for permission to move some of the heaviest power users, including AI data centers, onto backup generators to reduce strain and help avoid broader disruptions.
What's happening?
Maryland Matters said PJM Interconnection, which manages an electric grid serving Maryland and 12 other states, declared a hot weather alert running from Tuesday through Friday.
PJM forecasts that demand on Thursday could rise above 166,000 megawatts, topping the previous high of 165,563 megawatts set in 2006.
In a filing submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy, PJM senior vice president of operations Michael E. Bryson requested emergency authorization to make data centers and other major customers switch to backup generation during the heat wave.
"PJM may need to rely upon this emergency authorization during the upcoming forecasted hot weather conditions," Bryson wrote, per Maryland Matters.
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The request comes as electricity demand rises alongside the rapid expansion of AI-related data centers. Those facilities are no longer concentrated only in Northern Virginia and are increasingly spreading into places such as Maryland, where large hyperscale projects are now under development.
PJM also asked generators to complete maintenance outages and restore equipment before the most intense heat arrives.
Why does it matter?
For households, a grid pushed to its limits by extreme heat can lead to higher power bills, greater risk of blackouts, and dangerously hot indoor conditions if air conditioning fails.
Heat waves and other extreme weather events threaten lives and livelihoods by increasing heat-related illness, putting added pressure on hospitals, disrupting businesses, and making it harder for families to afford basic cooling.
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Tom Rutigliano, a senior advocate for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the region will likely make it through the week, though with less margin for error than in the past.
"If they have a streak of bad luck with power plants going offline at bad times, we could see some problems. But they're pretty much set to make it through," he said, per Maryland Matters.
He added that the rapid growth of data centers is reshaping the situation.
"But it's the data centers that got us to that point, that we're in a place where luck matters."
Avoiding outages would not necessarily prevent a financial hit, since short-term electricity prices could still spike, putting pressure on both household budgets and the broader economy.
What's being done?
Maryland utilities such as Baltimore Gas & Electric and Potomac Edison are telling customers to cut back on electricity use during the hottest hours of the day.
Among the suggestions are nudging thermostats a bit higher, cooking outside on a grill instead of heating up the house, and postponing use of appliances like ovens, dryers, and dishwashers until later in the evening.
PJM's board is also weighing several options for handling data centers' power demands during times of grid stress, from stricter limits on new connections to more flexible approaches, though any final plan would still require approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Katie Mettle, policy principal for Maryland at Advanced Energy United, said energy-efficiency programs that help reduce demand through better insulation and more efficient appliances are important.
However, Maryland lawmakers recently decided to temporarily scale back the state's flagship efficiency program.
"We have yet to see exactly how this reduction in goals is going to manifest … and the impact that's going to have, but I am pretty concerned about what we're going to end up seeing," Mettle said, per Maryland Matters.
Rutigliano said this could offer a glimpse of what lies ahead.
"What's going to happen later this week is going to be a real preview of what the next couple of years are going to look like," he said. "Even if there aren't blackouts, this could easily be a billion dollar couple of days, if energy prices shoot up really high."
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