Baltimore, MD – Dec. 12, 2023  – A major power grid operator that oversees electricity supplies across the mid-Atlantic repeated its warning that the looming shutdown of a coal-fired power plant in Baltimore will threaten the region’s grid reliability and may have devastating impacts on consumers.

In a follow-up letter obtained by FOX Business this week, PJM Interconnection warned the shutdown of the Brandon Shores coal power plant is slated to occur before replacement power sources can come online, resulting in “degraded grid reliability” for more than 1 million state consumers, including the entire city of Baltimore.

PJM Interconnection coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia, serving 65 million consumers.

The plant’s operator, Texas-based Talen Energy, recently confirmed to FOX Business that it still intends to deactivate the Brandon Shores plant in June 2025 as part of an agreement with the Sierra Club.

But PJM has repeatedly warned the region is not prepared for the terms of that settlement and addressed its letter this week to Sierra Club leadership, imploring it to take action.

“As you are aware, Talen is currently prevented from continuing to run without conversion beyond its stated deactivation date under [a Reliability Must Run] framework due to a private agreement it entered into with you. Neither PJM, the federally designated regional grid operator charged with maintaining grid reliability, nor the state of Maryland is a party to this agreement,” PJM President and CEO Manu Asthana wrote to the Sierra Club Tuesday.

“This situation requires immediate attention,” Asthana continued. “Failure to come to resolution on this issue could result in degraded grid reliability for over 1,000,000 Maryland consumers during peak hours, including the entirety of the city of Baltimore, for the years between the stated deactivation of Brandon Shores and the date whereby needed transmission can be constructed.”