FERC Launches Aggressive Targeted Action to Speed Large Load Integration

The country’s top energy regulator has ordered regional grid operators to develop new plans to connect data centers to power as fast as possible while preserving grid reliability and avoiding rising electricity bills for consumers.

The action carries vast implications for a data center sector contending with yearslong wait times for grid power and uncertainty about which solutions to the ongoing power crunch regional grids and regulators will allow. 

The orders “are a step in the right direction by prioritizing getting the most out of the grid we have, enhancing grid flexibility, and rewarding new loads that can positively impact the grid by bringing their own capacity or generation,” Utilize Coalition, a flexible power lobbying group, said in an email to Bisnow...