"The commission is pushing to get data centers onto the grid, and fast. The high-stakes move could tip the balance of regulatory power against the states."
"The White House wants federal energy regulators to act on data centers. They’re gearing up to take a big swing.
Over the coming weeks, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hammer out the details of a proposal that could be a striking assertion of federal power to manage the nation’s rapidly rising electricity demand. Under a plan put forward by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, FERC would regulate the way America’s biggest electricity customers are brought onto the power grid.
Much of this is to satisfy the energy consumption of data centers — the warehouse-sized hubs of supercomputers powering the digital economy and tech industry ambitions to dominate artificial intelligence.
The five-member commission has imposed a June deadline on itself to roll out a regulatory proposal aimed at accelerating the build-out of AI infrastructure, and it may even direct who pays for multibillion-dollar grid upgrades. FERC’s chair, Laura Swett, has echoed President Donald Trump’s willingness to test the limits of federal power to shape the U.S. energy economy."
Francisco "A.J." Camacho reports for E&E News April 20, 2026.
