PJM wants a rule for who gets curtailed first. Texas is making it easier for big loads to leave the grid entirely. That is one way to make a national power problem very local. New to this story? Here's where things stand. PJM’s large-load integration fight was already juggling expedited interconnection, queue reform, ride-through requirements, IRAS proposals, and federal pressure around demand response and virtual power plants. FERC has also set up a dispute-resolution forum starting September 1, 2026, with the goal of turning governance and stakeholder-process disputes into a future filing. This is The Data Center Daily. Today: a federal tariff fight, Texas off-grid detours, and billions chasing campuses that still need actual electrons. From Somto Nwanolue at Federal Character:
PJM Interconnection, the grid operator serving 67 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C., has asked federal regulators to approve rules that would cut power to new data centers ahead of households during supply shortages. The filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission follows two consecutive capacity auctions that failed to secure enough generation. PJM’s board projects roughly 70 GW of new large load by 2038 against roughly 15 GW of generation retired since 2022.
On PJM’s large-load integration fight, here’s the update: new data centers would be curtailed first under PJM’s proposed FERC rules. The cutoff is 50 MW at one site, and June 1, 2027—secure supply by then, or go ahead of households in the shedding order. PJM projects 70 gigawatts of new large load by 2038, after 15 gigawatts of generation retired since 2022. Two capacity auctions came up short. So yes, the grid operator has stopped pretending every proposed campus gets firm power on demand. PJM’s Interim Resource Adequacy Service would curtail these new loads before calling pre-emergency demand response. There’s also a Large Load Registry tracking every 50-MW-plus site, its draw, and whether it has secured generation— a useful distinction between announced power and actual power. But PJM can’t throw the switch itself. Utilities and states have to execute the cuts, so the June 2027 deadline is only as tough as the state-level enforcement behind it. Virginia already told operators to fund dedicated infrastructure; that’s the kind of paperwork this rule will force. Latitude Media, with Elizabeth K. Whitney:
Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas made major waves by pausing new data center connections to the grid until regulators audit the 474 gigawatts currently in the ERCOT interconnection queue. At first, it sounded like Texas was following in New York’s footsteps and halting data center construction in the face of intense consumer backlash.
Abbott paused new grid connections while ERCOT audits a 474-gigawatt queue. Developers with enough capital will build private generation, and everybody else gets a grid with even less visibility into where the next giant load could land. Latitude makes a precise point: this is a pause on connections, not data-center construction itself. Texas may be redirecting projects into data-center-plus-power-plant structures while statewide demand could double within five years. And SB6 already had a sensible guardrail: an existing generator needed PUC approval before peeling off to serve data-center load. Now the policy incentive is, fine, bring your own plant and sort out the accounting later. That’s a heck of a planning model. It’s a sharp contrast with the PJM filing we just covered. PJM is trying to put large-load obligations into a FERC tariff; Texas risks sending the same demand around the interconnection process altogether. Here's Jim DiPeso at NewsData:
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Aug. 14 gave six regional power markets another three months to respond to show-cause orders aimed at speeding large-load connections to the grid. The commission granted abeyance motions filed by the California Independent System Operator, Southwest Power Pool, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, PJM Interconnection, New York ISO and ISO New England. Under the June 18 orders, the original response deadline was Aug. 17.
FERC gave all six organized markets more time on the June show-cause orders. CAISO, SPP, MISO, PJM, NYISO, and ISO-NE now get roughly another three months. For most of the U.S. grid, the reform calendar has moved to November all at once. And these are the rules meant to speed up large-load connections. CAISO's filing is now due November 16, SPP's November 20—while projects are still asking utilities for power on timelines that aren’t magically gaining 90 days. The curtailment filing we just covered is an actual PJM tariff move; this is the wider procedural drag around it. Six markets agreeing they need more stakeholder time is orderly governance, but it won’t cure a five-year queue. Every developer with a project above 50 megawatts should mark those dates anyway. By June 1, 2027, PJM wants secured supply. By mid-November, the rest of the market still has to explain how it plans to connect giant loads without handing the cleanup bill to existing customers. Intelligent Data Centres, with Bill Tanner:
Bitdeer has signed a 16-year colocation lease and services agreement for 121MW of AI and high-performance computing capacity at its Tydal data centre campus in Norway. The agreement, signed through subsidiary Tydal Data Center AS with Volta Tydal AS, represents approximately US$4.7 billion in contracted revenue over the initial term. An eight-year renewal option could increase the total contract value to around US$8 billion over 24 years. Volta’s customer will be a leading AI lab, while Dell Technologies will serve as technology provider. The entire 121MW IT load will be configured to run NVIDIA GPUs.
Bitdeer has actual contract numbers for Tydal: 121 megawatts, a 16-year lease, and about $4.7 billion through the initial term. The first 60.5-megawatt phase is due December 31, 2026; the second follows March 31. Signed beats an option deck, absolutely. But Volta’s customer is still an unnamed “leading AI lab,” and 121 megawatts of NVIDIA GPUs only count once that 133 megawatts of Norwegian supply is actually delivering through four halls. The disclosure is oddly split-screen: Dell gets a name. NVIDIA too. The AI lab doesn’t. Bitdeer also says renewable power and a 1.1 PUE target—strong Nordic economics, but the delivery dates are the part to calendar. And compare that with the U.S. stories we just hit: PJM is writing curtailment obligations while Texas risks pushing load off-grid. Norway is offering dependable hydro and a 16-year runway. It’s a cleaner setup—if the build lands on time. PR Newswire writes:
The financing will support more than 130 megawatts (MW) of new capacity across four key markets in Flexential's national platform, providing a scalable source of capital to build ahead of enterprise and AI-driven infrastructure needs. Projects currently under construction include a 36 MW facility in Atlanta-Douglasville, Georgia; a 36 MW facility in Portland-Hillsboro, Oregon; and a 22.5 MW facility in Denver-Parker, Colorado. Also planned are another 36 MW facility in Portland-Hillsboro and a 4.5 MW expansion adjacent to Flexential's existing operations in Atlanta-Norcross, Georgia.
Flexential put $800 million behind more than 130 megawatts, with 36 MW already under construction in Douglasville and another 36 MW in Hillsboro. This is what build-ahead looks like when 11 banks have actually signed the paperwork. And those are not vapor campuses: 22.5 MW in Denver-Parker, plus the Portland and Atlanta expansions. But after the PJM filing we just covered, every credit committee ought to be asking one rude little question—what supply is secured when those halls need to energize? GI Partners and MSIP backing a dedicated development vehicle matters. Flexential can fund projects from planning through delivery instead of reopening the capital markets for each site—but committed construction capital doesn’t manufacture transmission capacity. Exactly. An oversubscribed facility tells you lenders believe the dirt, permits, and customer demand are real. It does not give Atlanta, Portland, or Denver a free pass on the wires. If The Data Center Daily is part of your routine, please subscribe and leave us a review wherever you’re listening. Your review helps other people find the show.
Mark these dates: PJM’s proposed supply cutoff for new 50 MW-plus loads is June 1, 2027. Bitdeer targets phase one commencement at the Tydal campus on December 31, 2026, followed by phase two on March 31, 2027.
Links to every story are in the show notes, so take a look at the ones you’d like to explore further. That’s The Data Center Daily for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.