Federal Regulators Tell Electric Grid Operators to Fix Their Rules on Data Centers

The nation’s electric grid is stressed out.  Unprecedented energy demands for large customers, such as data centers and cryptomines, are straining power supplies, raising electric rates in some regions, and stoking consumer advocates’ concerns that residential ratepayers could get stuck with the bill. Today federal energy regulators issued sweeping orders that require the nation’s six major grid operators within 60 days to propose reforms or justify their rules that govern how data centers and other large customers connect to the electric grid.   Additionally, within 30 days, each grid operator and its transmission owners must submit a detailed report describing how the grid operator will ensure there is adequate generation to serve existing and new large loads. ICN Weekly Saturdays Our #1 delivers the week’s climate and energy news – our original stories and top headlines from around the web. Get ICN Weekly Inside Clean Energy Thursdays Dan Gearino’s habit-forming weekly take on how to understand the energy transformation reshaping our world. Get Inside Clean Energy Today’s Climate Tuesdays A once-a-week digest of the most pressing climate-, written . Get Today’s Climate Don’t miss a beat. Get a daily email of our original, groundbreaking stories written -winning reporters. Get ICN Sunday Morning Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and ICN reporters as they discuss one of the week’s top stories. Get ICN Sunday Morning Justice & Health A digest of stories on the inequalities that worsen the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. The purpose of the order is to expedite connections between large customers and utilities, but with some proposed protections for residential and small commercial customers. The wholesale energy market for two-thirds of the United States, roughly 200 million customers, is managed and monitored , such as PJM Interconnection, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).  U. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright ordered the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last October to begin rulemaking to address energy demands and grid stability related to large customers, in particular data centers for AI and cryptomining. Additionally, within 30 days, grid operators must submit a detailed report describing how they intend to ensure that adequate generation will be available to serve existing and new large loads. The order allows grid operators to define “large load.” Many states have set a threshold of 100 megawatts, but as more of these customers connect to the grid, it could be lowered.