The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been instructed to move forward with proceedings to institute a new rule to interconnect large load facilities with reliable, affordable electricity.
Once established, the ruling will address skyrocketing power demands by rapidly accelerating the interconnection processes for structures that require large amounts of electricity to operate – like data centers and manufacturing plants. The new regulation would be designed to position the United States as a leader in AI innovation and provide necessary support for domestic manufacturing.
The authorization would extend the FERC’s jurisdiction to cover interstate commerce for energy transmission and sale of electricity wholesale. As large load facilities continue to be developed, the unprecedented need to interconnect large loads to better facilitate open access, non-discriminatory energy transmission between states has become increasingly apparent.
Introduced documents pushing the need to standardize interconnection procedures and agreements of large loads outlined a series of recommended principles to guide the rulemaking and reform process. These 14 principles include:
- Limiting the Commission’s jurisdiction to interconnections directly attached to transmission facilities.
- Only applying the proposed ruling to loads greater than 20 megawatts (MW).
- The FERC should study load and hybrid facilities alongside generating facilities to efficiently site loads and minimize the need for network upgrades.
- Load and hybrid facilities should be subjected to standardized study deposits, readiness requirements and withdrawal penalties.
- Hybrid facilities should be studied based on the amount of injection or withdrawal rights requested, incentivizing co-location with new generation facilities and streamlining transmission system buildout.
- Any hybrid interconnection must be required to install system protection facilities needed to prevent unauthorized injections or withdrawals that exceed their respective rights.
- The FERC should expedite interconnection studies of large loads that agree to be curtailable and hybrid facilities that agree to be curtailable and dispatchable.
- Load and hybrid facilities should be responsible for all needed network upgrades assigned through the interconnection studies.
- The interconnection customer should be afforded the same or similar option to build as generator interconnection customers.
- Existing generating facilities must go through a system support resource or reliability must run type study before they can enter a partial suspension to serve a new load at the same location.
- Utilities with large loads should be responsible for transmission service based on their withdrawal rights.
- These utilities with large loads should also be responsible for ancillary services based on peak demand, without consideration of any co-located generation.
- The FERC must develop a plan to implement these proposed reforms.
- Utilities with large loads must meet all applicable NERC reliability standards and OATT provisions.
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