The plant’s owner, Talen Energy, recently struck a deal with the environmentalist group Sierra Club to deactivate it by 2025 to reduce carbon dioxide outputs and help fight ‘climate change.’
However, that deal could be better for residents.
Jeff Shields, a spokesperson for PJM Interconnection, told Fox News:
“The PJM region and the state of Maryland are facing future reliability challenges as a result of the announced retirement of the Brandon Shores units.”
“Specifically, PJM analyses showed that the deactivation of the Brandon Shores units would cause severe voltage drop and thermal violations across seven PJM zones, which could lead to a widespread reliability risk in Baltimore and the immediate surrounding areas.”
PJM predicts prematurely shutting down Brandon Shores could create an imbalance in the local power grid, and cause a blackout for millions.
The plant generates about 1,295 megawatts, which is enough to power more than a million homes.
Grids can sometimes transfer power from other areas, but the upgrades required to do so will not be finished until 2028 — three years after Brandon Shores is scheduled to shut down.
The company has demanded that Brandon Shores remain in operation until those upgrades are finished but notes that the Talen agreement with Sierra Club bars this from being the case.
A Fox News noted that because of the tight timeframe, PJM has requested that Brandon Shores remain in operation through 2028 under a so-called Reliability Must-Run Agreement until transmission upgrades are completed.
However, Shields noted Talen Energy’s agreement with Sierra Club prevents such an agreement from progressing.
Democratic Gov. Wes Moore called for the state’s power grid to be entirely powered by green energy by 2035.
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