FERC Finally Wakes Up
14 hours ago Guest Blogger
By Michael McKenna
At their February public meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Section 206 petition, which argued that the PJM tariff is unjust or unreasonable (or both, I suppose) because it doesn’t include rules that allow for locating generation sources near or at data centers.
Let me commend FERC for finally engaging on the crucial issue of how we might be able to power the data centers which will be essential to the United States’ efforts to win the artificial intelligence race. Welcome to the fray.
Let me also commend FERC for issuing the equivalent of a vote of no confidence in an organized market. I’m not sure it is the first such vote, but it is definitely the first time that FERC has acknowledged that an organized market may be able to meet the challenge posed by an absolute requirement for the construction of more power and more reliable power in a prompt manner.
The Section 206 issued to PJM is an acknowledgment that the current regulatory model is unlikely to produce the results that the nation needs in this moment; that PJM, as currently configured, is not likely to lead to the building of enough generation in time.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/03/29/ferc-finally-wakes-up/
