The U.S. Department of Energy’s May 18, 2026 emergency order under Federal Power Act section 202(c) grants PJM Interconnection authority to direct large-load customers with backup generation, including data centers, to reduce demand during projected peak conditions. This action follows PJM’s assessment of over 40 GW in planned spring maintenance outages coinciding with forecasted loads exceeding 135 GW. Primary documents from the DOE emphasize deployment of on-site generation to avert rolling blackouts while preserving public safety. Industry perspectives highlight that hyperscale operators have already invested in redundant diesel and battery systems, viewing curtailment as a contractual rather than existential risk. Grid operators stress that seasonal maintenance cycles and transmission constraints predate recent AI load growth, pointing to NERC reliability assessments that flagged similar summer vulnerabilities in prior years. Economic analyses from the Energy Information Administration note data centers currently account for roughly 2-3 percent of U.S. electricity but are projected to rise sharply, creating competing claims on transmission headroom in the PJM footprint. Environmental stakeholders cite increased on-site generation run-time as a potential emissions trade-off against avoided blackouts. The original coverage understates how section 202(c) orders have been issued to multiple balancing authorities since January 2026, indicating a systemic rather than isolated response to load-growth patterns. Federal documents further reveal that backup resources remain underutilized in non-emergency periods, suggesting regulatory reforms around interconnection and dispatch could mitigate future invocations of emergency authority.