U.S. energy regulators instructed the country's largest grid operator on Thursday to clarify its procedures regarding co-location, an increasingly popular arrangement in which AI data centers directly connect to power plants.
As the wait times for electricity grow, notably affecting Big Tech's push to advance technologies like artificial intelligence, co-location has emerged as a quicker means of accessing significant electricity capacities, bypassing lengthy queues to connect to the broader grid.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission noted that the current instructions provided by grid operator PJM Interconnection seem inadequate, prompting a call for clarification.
FERC issued a 30-day deadline for PJM Interconnection, which serves 13 states and the District of Columbia, to either justify the adequacy of its existing co-location rates and terms of service or propose revisions.
According to FERC, the lack of clear guidelines could hinder both generators and consumers from establishing co-location arrangements efficiently.
Data centers, crucial for computing and cooling systems, are elevating U.S. electricity demand to unprecedented levels.
Commissioner David Rosner of FERC highlighted PJM's projection of adding 30 gigawatts in peak load over the next five years as significant, equating it to the power needed for a city the size of Philadelphia.
In a separate development, Constellation Energy challenged regional operator PJM Interconnection in November, alleging that PJM's vague guidance on co-located loads has unfairly impeded efforts to construct data centers at nuclear facilities.