TL;DRFERC ordered six major grid operators to fast-track data centre interconnections, but the directive does not address the underlying shortage of generating capacity. On the same day, the Trump administration paid $765 million to cancel offshore wind leases, deepening the supply gap.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday ordered six major grid operators to fast-track interconnection requests from data centres and other large electricity users. Under the directive, approved unanimously, grid operators must demonstrate that data centres are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”
Data centres will be responsible for paying the costs of their own interconnection. The commission also directed grid operators to consider “alternative transmission technologies,” a nod to startups developing solid-state transformers and superconducting transmission lines.
The queue problem
The orders address a bottleneck that has frustrated data centre developers and utilities across the country. Grid connection requests for power plants exceeded the total capacity of the existing fleet by the end of 2023, meaning the queue to get on the grid was longer than the grid itself could theoretically serve.
