US energy regulator moves to speed up data center projects
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a set of orders designed to expedite data center projects.
The agency’s five commissioners unanimously approved the directives on Thursday. The orders are part of an initiative that U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright launched last year to streamline data center construction. According to the Associated Press, it’s believed that additional measures could follow suit down the line.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, supervises interstate energy transmission infrastructure. The directives that it issued on Thursday apply to the six largest interstate power grid operators in the US. Those organizations provide electricity to about 200 million Americans.
Data center operators rely on interstate power infrastructure to transmit electricity to their facilities from distant power plants. Such partnerships are governed by a set of rules that are defined by grid operators. According to FERC, its new directives will require interstate grid operators to justify or revise several of their data center rules. The move is intended to increase regulatory clarity and thereby reduce the amount of time needed to power on new data centers.
