Meta Discloses $825 Billion in Compute Commitments as ATC Asks FERC to Bill Data Centers for Their Own Wires
Saturday, October 24, 2026 · 10 min
Meta's first negative free cash flow quarter came with about $825 billion in future compute and infrastructure commitments, while a Wisconsin transmission owner put a price on making data centers pay for their own grid upgrades. Plus PJM tells FERC about a 3,900 MW load drop, and Amazon drops a four-building Loudoun County plan.
Listen
Show notes
Meta's first negative free cash flow quarter came with about $825 billion in future compute and infrastructure commitments, while a Wisconsin transmission owner put a price on making data centers pay for their own grid upgrades. Plus PJM tells FERC about a 3,900 MW load drop, and Amazon drops a four-building Loudoun County plan.
In this episode
- Big Tech's capex spending looks different this year as Meta and Tesla save for later — Hamza Shaban
“A gauge of Meta's credit risk surged to a new record and its bonds sank, Bloomberg reported, after the company said it would spend about $825 billion in the future on computing power, AI infrastructure, and other commitments.”
- The Transmission Side of But-For: ATC Asks FERC to Make Data Centers Pay for Their Own Wires | Fracmoo — Priya Raman
“If FERC approves the proposal, ATC says it will bill $138 million in 2027 for transmission costs associated with large-load data center projects, and its network rate will fall approximately 6 percent from the 2026 rate. Without the mechanisms, ATC says, the 2027 network rate…”
- PJM urges FERC to set data center ride-through rules — OGGN Staff
“PJM told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's annual Reliability Technical Conference on Oct. 21 that about 3,900 MW of large loads unexpectedly moved to backup generation on July 22, and that the grid needs enforceable rules for how data centers behave during disturbances.”
- Amazon bows to local backlash over AI data centers ... — Oliver Haslam
“Weissman added that “While we see the property’s legal development potential differently than the County does, we concluded that the best outcome for all is to come together on a shared vision for this campus rather than engage in costly litigation.””