well now, ain’t this handy:
A power grid emergency order was issued by the U.S. Department of Energy, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright issuing it on October 12, 2026, under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. It was directed to the Pennsylvania–New Jersey–Maryland Interconnection (PJM) after PJM requested emergency assistance.
The PJM manages the regional electricity grid and wholesale power market across parts of 13 states and Washington, D.C.
The current emergency order covers parts of 13 states and Washington, D.C.: Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It applies to PJM Interconnection’s service area—not necessarily every part of each state—and is in effect October 13–16, 2026. The order is intended to help maintain grid reliability; it does not mean scheduled blackouts or that households need to take action.
All 13 states have data centers listed. The counts below are directory listings—not a count of confirmed operating facilities or a measure of electricity use—and databases may count sites differently.
datacentermap.com
State Listed data centers
Virginia 674
Illinois 242
Ohio 240
Pennsylvania 174
Indiana 125
North Carolina 97
Michigan 79
Tennessee 65
New Jersey 66
Maryland 58
Kentucky 56
Delaware 19
West Virginia 10
TOTAL: 1905 (DATA CENTERS ACROSS THE REGION.)
Virginia is by far the largest in this listing; West Virginia and Delaware have the fewest. The counts show where facilities are listed, but by themselves don’t indicate how much power data centers use or whether they contributed to the grid emergency. Washington, D.C., which isn’t a state, has AN ADDITGIONAL 6 listings.
Draw your own conclusions.