FERC rejects most of PJM’s large load interconnection plan

Federal regulators have turned down most of a plan by PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for a large swath of states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and others, for connecting data centers and other big power users to the electric grid. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the plan oversteps into territory that belongs to the states and could unfairly single out large power users.

The rejected part would have let big new electricity customers connect without first lining up matching new power supply, as long as they agreed to be cut off from power ahead of grid emergencies. Regulators said this amounted to setting local electricity rates and deciding which customers get cut off, decisions that belong to states, not the grid operator. One commissioner argued that in an emergency, data centers that aren't essential should lose power before homes, hospitals and schools, but said states need to set those rules.

For homeowners in PJM's territory, this doesn't change anything right away. But the ruling could keep electricity capacity prices higher for longer, since it slows down how quickly big new users like data centers get added to the grid under looser rules. It also means your state's utility regulators, not PJM, will likely end up deciding how power gets prioritized during emergencies and how costs from large new power users get shared. Pennsylvania and Ohio are mentioned as states likely to take up this issue next.