Cherry Hill households and businesses fall under a federal power grid emergency order that runs through Friday, Oct. 16. Unseasonably warm weather is straining the Mid-Atlantic electrical system during its fall maintenance season.

The U.S. Department of Energy issued Order No. 202-26-50 on Monday, Oct. 12, after PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator serving more than 67 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C., requested emergency relief. New Jersey is among the states covered.

The order allows PJM to bring additional power plants online and temporarily exceed certain environmental permit limits. As a last resort, PJM can direct data centers and other large electricity users to switch to backup generators.

The goal is to prevent blackouts while much of the region's generation and transmission equipment sits offline for scheduled maintenance and construction ahead of winter.

PJM forecast electricity demand at roughly 111,500 megawatts on Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to the DOE order. By Wednesday, Oct. 14, the grid operator expected to come within 900 MW of its reserve margin, with approximately 61,591 MW of generation offline.

Temperatures running 10 to 20 degrees above normal across PJM's territory are driving the demand spike, Dominion Energy spokesperson Jeremy Slayton told Axios.

"This is the new reality that grid operators are facing," PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields told Axios, citing fewer stretches of mild weather for essential maintenance.

Despite the emergency designation, a PJM spokesperson told Newsweek the grid operator does not expect customer impacts and is not asking residents to take action. The DOE said 35 gigawatts of unused backup generation remain available nationwide.

The most acute grid pressure is concentrated in the BGE, Pepco and Dominion service zones, according to the DOE order.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the order will help ensure Mid-Atlantic families and businesses "have access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity" by making backup power available.

The order exempts backup generators at hospitals, 911 call centers, water treatment plants, defense facilities and other critical sites.

The DOE has granted similar emergency orders multiple times in 2026, the PJM spokesperson told Newsweek. PJM said additional measures could be necessary depending on grid conditions through Friday, Oct. 16.

Residents who experience a power outage can report it to PSE&G by texting OUT to 47734 or calling 1-800-436-PSEG (7734).