The United States Department of Energy has issued an order permitting a nearly 400‐megawatt oil-fired unit at Talen Energy’s H.A. Wagner Generating Station in Maryland to operate beyond its normal environmental and run-hour limits through the end of 2025. The directive, signed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, follows a formal request in July by the regional grid operator PJM Interconnection citing “persistent resource adequacy concern” in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The unit in question had originally been slated for permanent retirement in May 2025, but a reliability-must-run agreement approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission extended its operation to May 2029. The new DOE order enables the unit to exceed its consent-order cap of 438 run-hours per calendar year while remaining subject to emissions limits.

PJM emphasised that withdrawal of the unit could have raised risks of load-shedding in the Baltimore Gas & Electric zone and beyond under conditions of extreme peak demand or transmission outages.

The DOE echoed this, noting that with forecast peak loads and thermal constraints, the unit’s dispatch “beyond its operating limit” was necessary to avoid potential outages.

The decision forms part of a broader federal strategy aimed at maintaining dispatchable generation amid an ageing thermal fleet and rising demand for electricity across the PJM footprint.

It also signals strong federal involvement in state-level energy reliability decisions, particularly where climate-policy ambitions conflict with grid-operation needs.

Some environmental and state-level stakeholders had raised concerns that extending operations at oil-fired plants undermines state climate targets.

At the Wagner site, Units 3 and 4 are operating under an extended arrangement, and Talen’s portfolio disclosure shows the plant has a 702 MW oil capacity and is critical to reliability around Baltimore pending transmission upgrades.

With the winter season approaching and demand expected to rise, the extended operating permission provides a safety-net for the grid but also raises fresh questions about emissions and transition pathways in states with ambitious decarbonisation plans.

The extended operational window now runs through 31 December 2025, giving PJM and Talen flexibility to dispatch the unit when system stress thresholds are met.

The move is non-precedential for other units, but regulators and industry observe it as a bellwether for how dispatchable thermal capacity will be managed in the transition to newer infrastructure.