JUDGMENT OF RECORD ·
Data centers may soon carry their own grid costs by law. A bipartisan Senate bill makes 20MW loads pay full transmission costs and gives FERC siting power.
Four senators from both parties filed a permitting bill reported Oct 1. Data center loads of 20MW or more would bear the full incremental transmission cost through exit charges, and utilities could not shift it to other customers. FERC would gain authority to permit individual transmission lines in the public interest. The bill ends the federal right of first refusal for incumbent utilities and bars most revocations of issued permits. Floor action is expected after the November elections.
On Oct 2 FERC rejected TransAlta's plan to spread about $20M of emergency costs for its Centralia coal unit across the West. Only Northwest utilities will pay. Seven plants now run under DOE emergency orders, costing about $583M per Sierra Club estimates.
The layer moving is regulation. Congress and FERC are both deciding who pays for reliability and for large new loads. Distribution Capture governs: access to the wires remains the chokepoint. Confidence is Low: a bill is not law, and timing depends on the election.
- CONFIDENCE
- Low
- HORIZON
- Through Q2 2027
- VS. PRIOR CALL
- New call
WHAT WOULD PROVE THIS WRONG
The Senate does not pass the bill by March 31, 2027, or it passes without the provision making 20MW computational loads pay full transmission costs.