Who pays for grid emergencies? DOE order says costs can be recovered

RICHMOND, Va. - The two-day federal emergency order that kept extra generators available on Virginia's grid in September contains a sentence that matters to every ratepayer: "Rate recovery is available pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 824a(c)."

That line appears in Paragraph I of Department of Energy Order No. 202-26-45, issued Sept. 17 to grid operator PJM Interconnection. It directs "each party affected by this Order" to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission "any tariff, tariff revisions or waivers necessary to effectuate this Order."

What the order did

Energy Secretary Chris Wright found an emergency across the PJM region, which includes all or part of 13 states and D.C. The order let PJM run listed power plants past limits in their environmental permits and direct backup generators at large power users to run as a last resort before rolling blackouts. It was effective Sept. 17 and 18.

PJM said in its Sept. 16 application that it expected to be about 700 megawatts below its reserve margin on Sept. 17 and that conditions were most acute in the BGE, Pepco and Dominion zones.

In Virginia, the list of covered resources included 11 combustion turbines in Louisa, Fauquier and Hanover counties and seven emergency diesel units in Ashburn and Gainesville. PJM's compliance report for Sept. 17 shows six Ashburn diesel units ran 8 to 10 hours under the order. Mount Storm units 1 and 3, coal units in West Virginia listed under PJM's Dominion-zone "VP" prefix, ran 1 and 12 hours.

How costs can move

Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act lets the energy secretary require generation or transmission during emergencies. The statute provides for compensation to parties that comply. Paragraph I points affected parties to FERC, the federal agency that oversees wholesale power rates and PJM's tariff.

The order itself does not say how much the emergency cost, who will file for recovery or how costs would be allocated among utilities and states. No such filing related to Order 202-26-45 was found in public sources reviewed for this story.

Retail customers in Virginia pay for wholesale power through their utilities. Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power both serve customers in PJM, and their purchased-power and fuel costs flow to retail bills through rate mechanisms overseen by the State Corporation Commission. The SCC's three commissioners, Chair Kelsey A. Bagot, Jehmal T. Hudson and Samuel T. Towell, were copied on the order. A review of the SCC's news releases found no public statement about the order.

What else the order says about cost

Two other provisions affect how the emergency is accounted for. Backup generators used under the order "shall not be considered a capacity resource," so they do not count toward the capacity that customers pay for through PJM's market. And hours of operation and emissions under the order do not count toward rolling-average environmental limits.

A recurring tool

PJM's application cites seven earlier 2026 orders under the same authority, including orders issued in January, May, June, July and Sept. 1, as precedent for allowing backup generation. Each order is temporary, and the statute limits orders that may conflict with environmental law to periods of up to 90 days, which can be renewed.

Fuel costs already on bills

The emergency order comes as Virginia customers are already paying higher fuel charges. In a separate case, the SCC approved Dominion's 2026-27 fuel factor of 3.6749 cents per kilowatt-hour plus a prior-period factor of 0.0899 cents, effective July 1, 2026. In a companion financing order, it approved securitizing about $931.85 million in deferred fuel costs and fees for recovery over about seven years, according to SCC records. Those cases are unrelated to the federal emergency order.

What to watch

Any FERC filings tied to Order 202-26-45 would be public on FERC's eLibrary. Later Virginia fuel or rate proceedings at the SCC would show whether any related costs are passed to retail customers.

Dominion's political giving

Dominion is among the largest political donors in Richmond, and Virginia does not cap corporate contributions. Records compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) show Dominion's 20 largest Democratic recipients in the 2025-26 cycle took at least $8.42 million. That list includes Shannon Taylor's attorney general campaign ($775,000), Del. Charniele Herring ($625,000), Speaker Don Scott ($600,409), Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell ($600,000) and Sen. Mamie Locke ($600,000). In 2023-24, VPAP shows the top 20 Democratic recipients took at least $7.15 million. Dominion's top 20 Republican recipients took about $5.58 million in 2025-26 and $5.06 million in 2023-24, led by Attorney General Jason Miyares at $1.42 million, according to VPAP. Virginia Scope, using VPAP data, reports Dominion has given nearly $18 million to Democrats and more than $15 million to Republicans since 2018. At the federal level, Dominion Energy PAC gave $117,800 to Democratic candidates in 2023-24 and $162,500 to Democratic PACs and party committees, according to OpenSecrets. These figures come from VPAP and OpenSecrets compilations and have not been independently re-verified against state filings.

Documents

The order, PJM's application, its supplemental letter and Exhibit A are posted on the Department of Energy's 202(c) page for Order No. 202-26-45 at energy.gov. PJM's daily compliance report for Sept. 17 is posted at pjm.com.