(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s utility companies say they’re prepared for a summer of high electricity demand and weather-related threats, according to a new report.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, or PUC, on Wednesday, released the 2025 Summer Readiness Overviews submitted by the Commonwealth’s major electric distribution companies and PJM, the regional electric grid operator.
PJM manages power flow for 13 states in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest and the nation’s capital city.
The reports show, said PUC’s press release, that utilities and PJM have made extensive preparations to meet expected summer electricity demands, including system upgrades, emergency response planning, and coordination with regional partners.
“These annual readiness reports provide a comprehensive look at how Pennsylvania utilities and our grid operator are preparing for a season of high demand and increased storm threats,” said PUC Chairman Stephen M. DeFrank. “We’ve already seen how quickly conditions can change – like the late-April storm that knocked out power to more than 500,000 customers in southwestern Pennsylvania. That’s why preparedness, coordination, and resilience matter more than ever.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, this summer is forecast to be hotter and wetter than usual, with an above-average Atlantic hurricane season already underway. These conditions could drive increased electricity use while also raising the risk of severe weather-related service disruptions, the report says.
The reports include utilities’ descriptions of system readiness efforts, like equipment upgrades, vegetation management, and other maintenance, aimed at reducing outages and improving reliability, and their strategies for responding to severe weather.
Also included are their plans for electric capacity additions and potential impact of behind-the-meter load, like data centers, electric vehicles, and distributed energy resources, like solar panels or battery storage.
PJM outlines its strategy for managing peak loads, including the use of demand response programs to supplement reserves during extreme grid conditions. And they emphasize the importance of resilience – ensuring that utility systems can recover quickly from disruptions and continue serving the public through extreme events.
They project sufficient generation capacity to meet forecasted peak summer demand of just over 154,000 MW, with reserves available to maintain grid reliability under typical conditions.
However, their 2025 Summer Outlook says this marks the first time their annual assessment includes an extreme scenario where demand exceeds 166,000 MW – potentially resulting in a shortfall of required reserves.
“In such situations,” it says, “PJM would take certain emergency actions to meet the high forecast peak load scenario, including initiating contracted demand response programs – which compensate participating customers for voluntarily reducing electricity use during grid emergencies.”
In addition to the readiness reports, the commission cited their ongoing review following the storms that swept across southwestern Pennsylvania in April, causing widespread damage and cutting electric service to over 500,000 customers.
“This was not a routine weather event,” said PUC Chairman Steve DeFrank. “The intensity and scale of the damage – impacting electric systems, roads, communications networks, and other infrastructure – demand a closer look.
“As we continue to recover, we also need to understand what happened, what worked, what didn’t, and what can be done better moving forward.”
Individual reports are available on the PUC’s Reliability webpage.
