Plain-English framing. FERC regulates the interstate transmission grid. Until now, interconnection rules for loads (as opposed to generators) have been overwhelmingly state-level — a developer interconnects through whichever state PUC and utility happens to own the wires. The DOE Section 403 directive asks FERC to take a much bigger role on the load side, mirroring what FERC already does for generation interconnection under Order 2023. The federal-state boundary question is the most consequential piece. If FERC asserts jurisdiction over large-load interconnection above 20 MW (the threshold under discussion), then the Wisconsin, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina tariff orders are partially preempted — at least for the interconnection process itself, even if state PUCs retain authority over the retail rates the load pays. The cluster-study idea (group several large-load applications together and study them as a batch) is essentially federalizing the ERCOT Batch Zero concept and applying it to PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, and NYISO. The colocation piece builds on the December 18, 2025 PJM-specific order, which directed PJM to create three transmission services — interim non-firm, firm contract-demand, and non-firm contract-demand — to accommodate behind-the-meter colocated arrangements where a data center primarily takes power from an on-site generator but maintains a grid connection. A FERC-wide ruling would extend that framework to every RTO. Sources: FERC 'FERC to Act on Large Load Interconnection Docket by June 2026'; Utility Dive 'FERC tees up June decision on data center interconnection reform'; Snell & Wilmer 'FERC Sets June Action on DOE's Large Load Interconnection Plan'; White & Case 'DOE directs FERC to accelerate interconnection of data centers'; K&L Gates 'FERC Orders PJM to Reform Tariff for Co-Located Generation and Load'; ENR 'Energy Sector Debates New US Rules to Power Up More Large Load Data Centers'.
Primary source · FERC / Utility Dive / Snell & Wilmer / White & Case ↗
Why it matters
This is the single most consequential pending decision in U.S. data-center site readiness right now — bigger than any individual state action because it would set the floor that every state has to build on top of. Two product implications, conditional on the ruling shape. (1) If FERC asserts jurisdiction at 20 MW and standardizes the cluster-study process: the per-state tariff complexity Cliff has been mapping doesn't go away (retail rates stay state-level), but the interconnection-process complexity collapses to a roughly uniform federal procedure. That makes interconnection-timeline modeling a federal-data problem instead of a 50-state problem — much faster to build and maintain. (2) If FERC declines to assert jurisdiction or punts back to state-by-state: the patchwork wins, every new state docket is independent precedent, and Cliff's per-state coverage moat is locked in for the next 18-24 months. Either outcome is product-shaping, so watch the docket daily through end of June. The colocation piece is independently important regardless of the broader ruling — most behind-the-meter strategies in PJM territory (the recent Three Mile Island / Amazon, Susquehanna / Talen-Amazon arrangements) live or die on the colocation framework, and a clean FERC standard would unlock a wave of BTM deals that are currently sitting on hold.
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Related filings
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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — press release on June 18, 2026 action ↗