{"slug": "fed-regulators-order-grid-operators-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers", "title": "Fed regulators order grid operators speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers", "summary": "Federal regulators ordered regional grid operators to speed up connections for large energy users, including AI data centers, to address surging electricity demand. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted unanimously to ensure timely grid access while protecting states' rights and ratepayer costs. The move aims to help the U.S. compete with China in AI development.", "body_md": "# Federal regulators order grid operators to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers\n\n## Federal regulators order grid operators to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers\n\nWASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday ordered regional grid operators to help large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and aging electric transmission system, a step they said is needed to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence [data centers](https://apnews.com/article/ai-data-centers-environment-climate-footprint-a792f184a9f2833b5388dbae8b41ca95).\n\nEnergy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the United States better compete with China for superiority in the fast-growing [AI](https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence) sector.\n\nTech companies and data center developers welcomed the chance to connect faster to the country’s power supply for the biggest energy users ever built in the United States, including some that consume more electricity than a small city.\n\nUtilities, states and regional grid operators had worried that the Republican administration’s plan would remove their authority to manage the process, but FERC said the order leaves states in control of retail electric rates, terms and conditions. Clean energy advocates have urged regulators not to undermine state-level efforts to require the use of renewable energies.\n\nThe commission’s actions come as a [backlash grows against data centers](https://apnews.com/article/data-center-artificial-intelligence-electricity-costs-rise-a6cdf9aa09d1cd3dbf82750430c15373) over concerns about the massive amounts of energy and water they use and fears about noise and air pollution, water shortages and a loss of open space or farmland.\n\n## Unanimous vote and affordability\n\nFERC members voted unanimously to direct six regional grid operators to ensure that AI data centers and other large power users are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”\n\nLaura Swett, an appointee of President Donald Trump who chairs the commission, called the vote “historic” and said it would push the country’s electricity market into the future while respecting states’ rights, protecting reliable electric service and shielding ratepayers from shouldering the costs of connecting big power users to the grid.\n\n“I know that Americans across the country are concerned about affordability, and so are we,” Swett said, referring to the five-member commission. As chair, “I am taking extremely seriously the mission that Congress has entrusted us to ensure that rates are reasonable,” she said.\n\nThe vote comes eight months after Wright asked the independent agency to take more control over ensuring that the vast network of massive computing warehouses [needed to power AI](https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence) are connected quickly to high-voltage transmission lines.\n\nWright hailed the commission’s action, saying it would “remove barriers, accelerate development and ensure America has the affordable, reliable and secure energy needed to power a new era of prosperity.”\n\nData centers would pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed for their connection, under the commission order. But that order can do little to address the tightening energy supplies that are driving up electricity bills in some areas and raising warnings of blackouts as the construction of data centers outpaces the speed of new power plants coming online to serve them.\n\nRobert Montejo, a lawyer who represents data centers, said the most important message from FERC’s action is that AI “has fundamentally changed the electricity landscape. The grid and prior policy were not built for the pace and scale of demand we’re seeing from AI infrastructure, and FERC is signaling that standing still is no longer an option.”\n\nThe six regional grid operators under the order serve 200 million Americans, or two-thirds of FERC’s jurisdiction. FERC, meanwhile, invited utilities that handle their regional transmission systems to also participate and analysts said the agency could eventually pressure them, too.\n\n## A search for power\n\nTech giants are scrambling to [find enough power](https://apnews.com/article/big-tech-data-centers-electricity-energy-power-texas-pennsylvania-46b42f141d0301d4c59314cc90e3eab5) for their data centers and report that, in some places, it will take years to connect to the electric grid.\n\nThe Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities, said FERC’s order builds on regional and state processes already underway while “supporting flexibility and innovation.”\n\nBesides power bottlenecks, the tech industry is running into widespread [opposition from communities](https://apnews.com/article/data-centers-artificial-intelligence-nimby-tech-21fa7b957664d5dca6788e35ab43b88e) where residents don’t want to live next to or near a data center.\n\nMore than 4,000 data centers now operate in the U.S., according to one estimate, with an additional 3,000 planned or under construction.\n\nTrump has tried to deflect public concerns about AI, seeing the fast-evolving technology as crucial for the U.S. to attract foreign investment and maintain its economic and military prowess. He signed an executive order this month establishing a framework for the federal government to [vet the national security risks](https://apnews.com/article/trump-ai-executive-order-e41af74f7b0865482f07d10fe7a50fe3) of the most advanced [AI systems](https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence) for up to a month before their public release.\n\nIn December, FERC took an earlier step to help data center operators get electricity quickly, voting to allow tech companies to [effectively plug a data center](https://apnews.com/article/power-electricity-ai-power-plants-data-centers-grid-6f52e60c4924f634a21fb5f35d68f29b) directly into a power plant and Thursday’s order sought to ensure that option is accessible around the country.\n\n## Power demands from data centers\n\nFERC told grid operators to respond within 30 days on how they will ensure there is adequate power supplies for new and future data centers, and within 60 days on plans to integrate large power users in line with the new guidelines. Swett told reporters after the meeting that she hoped faster connection processes are in effect in “as little time as possible.” She didn’t set an exact timeline.\n\nJeff Dennis, executive director of the Electricity Customer Alliance, said FERC’s order is responsive in particular to big power users and state regulators.\n\nTech giants are confronting unclear rules to connect data centers to high-voltage transmission systems, while states need more clarity on who should bear the cost of regional transmission projects approved at the federal level, he said.\n\nRob Gramlich, a Washington-based energy consultant, said states should quickly develop rules to accommodate large power users and prevent cost shifts to residential and business customers. FERC could assert broader jurisdiction over interconnection issues if states don’t act quickly, he said.\n\nData from the Electric Power Research Institute [shows](https://powering-intelligence.epri.com/load-growth.html) that data centers now account for about 5% of U.S. electricity demand, but could triple by 2035.\n\nTech companies have continued to raise their spending on building and equipping data centers, but there is evidence that construction is lagging and projects are hitting roadblocks, including permitting delays, growing local opposition or bottlenecks around gas turbines, transformers and skilled labor.\n\n___\n\nLevy reported from Harrisburg, Pa.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fed-regulators-order-grid-operators-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers", "canonical_source": "https://apnews.com/article/power-electricity-ai-plants-data-centers-grid-506e3d206871111f15c3c62fc5368be5", "published_at": "2026-06-18 20:44:14+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-18 21:01:34.562612+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["Federal Energy Regulatory Commission", "Chris Wright", "Laura Swett", "Donald Trump", "AP"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fed-regulators-order-grid-operators-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fed-regulators-order-grid-operators-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fed-regulators-order-grid-operators-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/fed-regulators-order-grid-operators-speed-power-to-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers.jsonld"}}