White House Seeking Emergency Power Auction for Nations Largest Electric Grid

A backyard overlooks the valley to the GenOn Cheswick Power Station, which burns coal to produce 637 megawatts of electricity for the region, in Cheswick, Penn., on June 7, 2021. Jeff Swensen/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump’s administration and a bipartisan, mid-Atlantic group of governors teamed up on Jan. 16, calling for an emergency power auction and for the nation’s largest grid operator to lower its prices.In the power auction, companies would bid on 15-year contracts for new electricity generation capacity, creating new power plants to meet AI-driven energy demands.