Thursday, February 5, 2026

PJM Interconnection Issues Cold Weather Alert For Feb. 7 to 9 Across Its Entire Footprint

On February 5, the
PJM Interconnection issued a Cold Weather Alert from February 7 to 9 across its entire 13 state electric grid service footprint that includes Pennsylvania.

Low temperatures are expected to reach the single digits through the weekend and through Monday, Feb. 9.

Previous Cold Weather Alerts were issued between January 19 to February 2 for some or all of the PJM territory.

When issued, PJM communicates with generation owners to tell them to be prepared to call in additional staff to get all units running for when electricity use begins to increase. 

Generation owners must take extra care to maintain equipment so that it does not freeze in the cold and are reminded to provide updated information to PJM on limitations to their units, including time required to start and the max and min times that their units can run once started.

A Cold Weather Alert can also be used to defer or reschedule planned generation maintenance outages and/or transmission outages and/or recall transmission/generator outages, if necessary.

Click Here for the PJM announcement.

Visit the PJM Interconnection website for more information.

Related Articles This Week:

-- Gov. Shapiro’s Proposed Budget Includes Performance Standards For Data Centers Seeking State Tax Credits; Renewed Call For Lightening Energy Plan; New PUC Benchmarks For Utility Profits  [PaEN] 

-- Reactions To Gov. Shapiro's Proposed Budget From Citizen, Environmental, Energy, Industry, Utility Groups  [PaEN] 

-- House Committee OKs Bill To Give PUC More Authority To Regulate A.I. Data Centers, Other Large Loads To Protect Ratepayers, Electric Grid  [PaEN]   

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports PA Electricity Prices Increased 46.1% From 2018 to 2025, More Than Other PJM States, Largely Due To Pennsylvania's Reliance On Natural Gas-Fired Electric Generation  [PaEN] 

-- Guest Essay: A.I. Data Centers Pose Big Challenge For PA's Energy Future - Dramatically Increasing Costs For Energy Consumers, And It's Not Getting Any Cheaper - By Tom Gilbert, Pennsylvania Environmental Council   [PaEN]

-- Washington County Residents On Water Wells Not Aware A MarkWest Pipeline Drilling Project Lost 1.2 Million Gallons Of Drilling Fluid In Mount Pleasant & Robinson Townships  [PaEN] 

-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies CNX Gas Company Motion To Throw Out Ullom Family Appeal Over Water Loss In Washington County; Scope Of Rebuttable Presumption Under Review  [PaEN] 

NewsClips:

-- Scranton Times: Local Officials React To Shapiro’s Budget Address [Data Centers] [PDF of Article]

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: Gov. Shapiro Wants More A.I. Data Centers, But They Need To Bring Their Own Power 

-- PA Capital-Star: PA’s Approach To Joining The A.I. Race  Must Put People First, Shapiro Said In Budget Address 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Gov. Shapiro Proposes New Standards Requiring Data Centers To Bring Their Own Power  [PDF of Article]

-- PennLive: Gov. Shapiro Lays Out 4 Principles To Steer How Big Tech Builds A.I. Data Centers In PA 

-- Inquirer: Gov. Shapiro Says He’ll Prevent A.I. Data Center Developers From ‘Saddling’ Pennsylvanians With Higher Energy Costs 

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer: What Does PJM Have To Do With A.I. Data Centers And Why Is Gov. Shapiro Always So Made At It? 

-- WHYY: Gov. Shapiro Says Investor-Owned Electric, Gas Utilities Making Too Much Profit At The Expense Of Ratepayers 

-- PPL Utilities Statement On Gov. Shapiro’s Budget Address And Energy Affordability

-- E&ENews/Politico: A.I Champion Josh Shapiro Leans On Tech Industry To Bear Energy Costs Of A.I. Data Centers 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Gov. Shapiro Proposes $1 Billion Infrastructure Fund To Address PA’s Housing And Energy Needs [PDF of Article]

-- PA Capital-Star: Should A.I. Data Centers Pay Up Front Or Build Their Own Power Plants?  PJM, State Governors Have Different Ideas On How To Fix Your Electricity Bill 

-- Scranton Times Chris Kelly Opinion: A.I. Data Center Race A Marathon, Not A Sprint [PDF of Article]

-- WVIA: Residents Fear Negative Impacts On Water Resources As A.I. Data Centers Are Proposed Across Northeast PA 

-- The Citizens Voice: Rural Landowners In Luzerne County Offered $175,000/Acre For A.I. Data Center Takeover In Hollenback Twp.  [PDF of Article

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Vistra Energy Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant VP Talks Meta/Facebook Deal, Planned 140 MW Uprate At Nuclear Plant [PDF of Article

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: $10 Billion A.I. Data Center Campus, Natural Gas Power Plant Proposed For Former Bruce Mansfield Power Plant Site In Beaver County  [Shippingport Boro Approved Jan. 28, Another Hearing To Be Set]  [PDF of Article

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Here Are More Details On The $10 Billion Shippingport A.I. Data Center Project Near Bruce Mansfield Power Plant Site: 593 Acres, 2 Million Square Feet [PDF of Article]

-- The Derrick: Clarion Borough Holds Public Hearing On A.I. Data Center Ordinance  [PDF of Article]

-- TribLive: Opponents Of Homer City 4.5 GW Natural Gas Power Plant, Data Center Campus Air Concerns At Community Gathering In Indiana County

-- The Citizens Voice: Rural Landowners In Luzerne County Offered $175,000/Acre For A.I. Data Center Takeover In Hollenback Twp.  [PDF of Article

-- WVIA: Residents Fear Negative Impacts On Water Resources As A.I. Data Centers Are Proposed Across Northeast PA 

-- NE PA Institute For Public Policy & Economic Development: Exploring The Dynamics Surrounding Data Centers In Northeastern Pennsylvania

-- TribLive: Environmentalists Urge DEP To Make Tenaska Natural Gas Power Plant Meet Air Pollution Requirements To Get Permit In Westmoreland County

-- Senate Passes Sen. Yaw Bill To Identify Sites For Natural Gas Power Plants [Except That Isn’t The Problem At All] [Senate Bill 704]

-- Senate Passes Bill To Weaken Plugging Standards For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells  [Senate Bill 712]  [These wells were abandoned in the first place because there is no effective well plugging bond program and 100% of the burden put on taxpayers. Now conventional well boosters want to cut breaks to the industry another break by making the well plugging program less effective so wells have to be replugged more frequently. At the same time Congress and the President cut federal funding for well plugging.]

-- Reps. Matzie, Mehaffie Laud Passage Of Bill To Clear The Way For Construction Of Modular Nuclear Reactors [House Bill 2017]

-- WHYY: Proposed 1.2 GW Delaware City A.I. Data Center Hits Major Setback From Environmental Regulators In Delaware

-- Utility Dive: Coal-Fired Power Plant Owners Say US DOE ‘Emergency’ Order To Run Plants Constitutes An Unconstitutional Physical Taking And Regulatory Taking’ Of Their Property 

-- Wall Street Journal: Google Is Spending Big To Build A Lead In A.I. Energy Race By Buying Energy Companies  [PJM Highlighted] [PDF of Article]

-- Wall Street Journal: These Rural Americans Are Trying To Hold Back The Tide Of A.I. - Fears Of Rising Utility Costs, Job Losses, Privacy Violations  [PDF of Article]

-- NYT: President’s Administration Is Blocking At Least 73 GW Of Much-Needed Solar Electricity Generation, 5.8 GW Of Wind Generation 

[Posted: February 5, 2026]  PA Environment Digest

Thursday PA Environment & Energy Articles - NewsClips: 2.5.26

“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

-- Article I, Section 27 Pennsylvania Constitution  [It’s Not A Suggestion]


Senate Voting Schedule

Budget hearings will be held February 23-26, and March 2

March 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25

April 20, 21, 22

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30

-- Committee Schedule


House Voting Schedule

Budget hearings will be held February 23-26, and March 2

March. 23, 24, 25

April 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

September 28, 29, 30

October 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule


TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 


TODAY 1:00: Agenda Posted. DEP Agricultural Advisory Board meeting. 1:00 p.m.  Contact: Bob Haines robhaines@pa.gov or 717-787-7565. 


TODAY 9:15: Agenda Posted. DEP Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting. 9:15 a.m. Contact: RA-EPAQTAC@pa.gov.  


TODAY: US Army Corps Of Engineers, PEMA Other Partners Host Feb. 5 (Eastern/Central PA), Feb. 6 (Western PA) Ice Jam Webinars 


February 6-- Agenda Posted. DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board meeting. 9:00 a.m.  Contact: Mariana Fletcher marifletch@pa.gov or 717-497-0714. 


February 9-- House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee to hold hearing on Stream Impairment In Pennsylvania.  Room G-50 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch online. 


February 10-- CANCELED. Environmental Quality Board meeting. 9:00 a.m. Contact: Laura Griffin, Regulatory Coordinator, laurgriffi@pa.gov or  (717) 772-3277.


February 10-- Agenda Posted. DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting. 12:30 p.m. Contact: Ian Irvin iirvin@pa.gov or 717-579-0329.


February 19-- In-Person/Online. PA League Of Women Voters, Duquesne University Host Shale Gas & Public Health Conference.  Pittsburgh.  8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 


February 26-- Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Department of Environmental Protection.


March 2-- House Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources. Click Here to watch live.


March 3-- Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Public Utility Commission.  


March 5-- House Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Public Utility Commission. Click Here to watch live.



-- In Memoriam: Paul Marchetti, Founding Executive Director Of the PA Infrastructure Investment Authority 


-- In Memoriam: David Johnson, Educator, State Parks/Jennings Environmental Education Center


-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies CNX Gas Company Motion To Throw Out Ullom Family Appeal Over Water Loss In Washington County; Scope Of Rebuttable Presumption Under Review  [PaEN] 


-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports PA Electricity Prices Increased 46.1% From 2018 to 2025, More Than Other PJM States, Largely Due To Pennsylvania's Reliance On Natural Gas-Fired Electric Generation  [PaEN] 


-- Guest Essay: A.I. Data Centers Pose Big Challenge For PA's Energy Future - Dramatically Increasing Costs For Energy Consumers, And It's Not Getting Any Cheaper - By Tom Gilbert, Pennsylvania Environmental Council   [PaEN]


-- DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets Feb. 10 To Hear Update From Senate, House Environmental Committees, And On Philadelphia Combined Sewer Overflows  [PaEN] 


-- TribLive: Environmentalists Urge DEP To Make Tenaska Natural Gas Power Plant Meet Air Pollution Requirements To Get Permit In Westmoreland County


-- Senate Passes Sen. Yaw Bill To Identify Sites For Natural Gas Power Plants [Except That Isn’t The Problem At All] [Senate Bill 704]


-- Senate Passes Bill To Weaken Plugging Standards For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells  [Senate Bill 712]  [These wells were abandoned in the first place because there is no effective well plugging bond program and 100% of the burden put on taxpayers. Now conventional well boosters want to cut breaks to the industry by making the well plugging program less effective so wells have to be replugged more frequently. At the same time Congress and the President cut federal funding for well plugging. The wrong decisions at every step, for what?]


-- Reps. Matzie, Mehaffie Laud Passage Of Bill To Clear The Way For Construction Of Modular Nuclear Reactors [House Bill 2017]


-- Register Now!  For Keep PA Beautiful's Pick Up Pennsylvania Initiative Honoring America's 250th Anniversary; In 2025, 53,500 Volunteers Collected 3.4 Million Pounds Of Trash  [PaEN] 


-- DEP Announces Winners Of 2026 PA Student Radon Poster Contest; Regan Schall Went On To Win 1st Place In National Contest  [PaEN] 


-- PA Capital-Star: PA House Panel Approves Bill To Limit Exceptions To Sunshine Act Notice Requirements


-- US Army Corps Of Engineers, PEMA Other Partners Host Feb. 5 (Eastern/Central PA), Feb. 6 (Western PA) Ice Jam Webinars 


-- The Derrick: Chilly Temperatures Bring Back Memories Of Forgotten Ice Floods In Oil Region’s History [PDF of Article]  


-- DEP Now Accepting Applications For Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants, Deadline April 1  {PaEN] 


-- TribLive: Former Heinz Endowments IT Manager Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $1 Million


-- American Water Charitable Foundation Now Accepting Applications For Water & Environment Grants From PA American Water Service Territories  [PaEN]  


-- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Awards $12.5 Million To Support 30 Delaware River Watershed Conservation Projects; Next Round Of Grant Applications Due In March [PaEN]


-- Bird Safe Philly: NFWF Awards Grant To Support Efforts To Educate, Mitigate For Bird Collisions With Glass


-- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Awards $6.9 Million to Support 33 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Conservation Projects; Next Round Of Grant Applications Due April 9  [PaEN] 


-- Penn State Extension Hosts Feb. 24 Beavers And Artificial Dam Building - Gnawing On Ecology  [PaEN]  


-- Tribune-Democrat: Cambria Conservation District Tree And Plant Sale Catalog Available 


-- WPSU: Blair County Volunteers Hope To Preserve History Of Abandoned Coal Mining Town Near Horseshoe Curve 


-- WeConservePA Now Accepting Applications For Regional Trail Workshop Grants  [PaEN] 


-- PA Wilds Center: DCNR Makes Key Investments In 13-County PA Wilds To Grow Outdoor Recreation, Tourism


-- Delaware Highlands Conservancy Partners With Landowner To Protect 76 Acres Of Forests, Wetlands In Monroe, Pike Counties  [PaEN] 


-- The Nature Conservancy-PA News: Help Restore A Meadow; Winter Wildlife Abounds In Preserves; Volunteer Of The Year Hannah Hartman


-- Game Commission 2025 Annual Report


-- Erie Times- Brian Whipkey: Game Commission Presents Annual Report To House Committee 


-- LehighValleyLive: Game Commission Year In Review - More Game Lands, More Wardens, More Places To Practice


-- Erie Times - Brian Whipkey: Pennsylvania’s Hidden Wildlife Corridors Save Animals, Drivers  


A.I. /Data Centers


-- WVIA: Residents Fear Negative Impacts On Water Resources As A.I. Data Centers Are Proposed Across Northeast PA 


-- The Citizens Voice: Rural Landowners In Luzerne County Offered $175,000/Acre For A.I. Data Center Takeover In Hollenback Twp.  [PDF of Article


-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Here Are More Details On The $10 Billion Shippingport A.I. Data Center Project Near Bruce Mansfield Power Plant Site: 593 Acres, 2 Million Square Feet [PDF of Article]


-- WHYY: Gov. Shapiro Says Investor-Owned Electric, Gas Utilities Making Too Much Profit At The Expense Of Ratepayers 


-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Vistra Energy Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant VP Talks Meta/Facebook Deal, Planned 140 MW Uprate At Nuclear Plant https://tinyurl.com/3c46zxjz [PDF of Article


-- WHYY: Proposed 1.2 GW Delaware City A.I. Data Center Hits Major Setback From Environmental Regulators In Delaware


Clairton Coke [Coal] Works Explosion


-- Pittsburgh Business Times: US Steel Clairton Coke [Coal] Works Battery To Return To Operation Months After Fatal Blast [PDF of Article]


Train Derailments


-- TribLive - Jack Troy: Pitt Researcher Studies Lingering Health Impacts From Norfolk Southern Train Derailment 


Federal Administration


-- NYT: President’s Administration Is Blocking At Least 73 GW Of Much-Needed Solar Electricity Generation, 5.8 GW Of Wind Generation 


-- Bloomberg: How Environmental Enforcement Has Dropped Under President’s Administration


PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- Spotlight PA: Shapiro’s New Memoir Doesn’t Tell The Full Story About His Time As PA Attorney General

-- Morning Call Guest Essay: Why Is Gov. Shapiro Backing A Candidate For Congress In Lehigh Valley With Little Or No Name Recognition, No Engagement With Latino Leaders - By Victor Martinez

-- Wall Street Journal: In Allentown, Republicans Are Fighting To Keep Latino Support, But Economy, Deportations Are Headwinds In Midterm Elections 

-- PennLive: PA Lawmakers Condemn President’s ICE Detention Center Plans In Berks County

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill County Commissioners: ICE Immigrant Detention Center Planned For Tremont Twp. Could Hold 7,500 People

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill County Democrats Continue Opposition To Tremont Twp. ICE Detention Facility

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[Posted: February 5, 2026]  PA Environment Digest

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