Energy Secretary Chris Wright is directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to initiate a rulemaking process to accelerate the connection of large loads, such as data centers, to the grid.
Wright sent a proposal late Thursday urging FERC to undergo a rulemaking process that would expedite the process for connecting both large loads and colocated facilities whose energy usage can be curtailed and dispatched to the grid. Colocation refers to when a facility is built on the same site or property as the power plant that supplies its energy.
The energy secretary’s proposal aims to add large loads to the grid quickly as part of the Trump administration’s effort to lead the artificial intelligence race.
“To usher in a new era of American prosperity, we must ensure all Americans and domestic industries have access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity,” Wright wrote. “To do this, large loads, including AI data centers, served by public utilities must be able to connect to the transmission system in a timely, orderly, and non-discriminatory manner.”
Wright proposed several recommendations to inform FERC on its rulemaking process, including requiring loads to pay full network upgrade costs. It also proposed that load and hybrid facilities should be studied together with generating facilities. The reforms apply to new loads and hybrid facilities greater than 20 megawatts.
Data centers are extremely energy-intensive, and there have been concerns that the facilities could raise electricity prices further. The Center for Strategic and International Studies forecast in March that by 2030, AI data centers in the United States will consume upward of 84 gigawatts. These same data centers only consumed about 4 gigawatts last year.
Meanwhile, the DOE also proposed another rule clarifying that third parties do not have veto rights over issuing preliminary hydroelectric power permits.
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The hydrogen sector applauded the proposal. National Hydropower Association President and CEO Malcolm Woolf said in a statement, “It is incumbent upon FERC, the Trump Administration, and Congress to ensure that third parties, such as Federal resource agencies, do not unduly inhibit hydropower development and instead foster its necessary growth to meet current challenges.
“Additional reforms are needed, and we look forward to future collaboration with all stakeholders to enact these improvements,” Woolf said.
