Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Built World

Primary regulator managing CP2 approval and Plaquemines expansion review; facing legal challenges over environmental assessment adequacy

When Cheniere Energy shipped America's first LNG cargo from Louisiana in February 2016, the U.S. was a net gas importer. A decade later, the country leads the world in LNG exports, with capacity set to more than double by 2029.

Updated 2 days ago

Built World

Approved project license

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a 40-year license for a $2 billion pumped-storage hydropower facility on land the Yakama Nation considers sacred. The 1,200-megawatt Goldendale Energy Storage Project would function as a giant battery for the Pacific Northwest grid—pumping water uphill when power is cheap, releasing it through turbines when demand spikes. The site, known to the Yakama as Pushpum or 'mother of all roots,' has been used for ceremonies, fishing, and gathering traditional foods for centuries.

Updated 3 days ago

Rule Changes

Developing new rules for data center grid connections

For decades, American households paid roughly the same share of electricity costs regardless of which industries were expanding. AI data centers have broken that arrangement.

Updated May 20

New Capabilities

Regulating data center co-location and behind-the-meter power arrangements

Google spent $4.75 billion over a year ago acquiring Intersect Power, owning power plants that feed its AI data centers. Amazon bought a Pennsylvania nuclear campus; Microsoft restarted Three Mile Island in September 2024; Meta announced nuclear deals with Vistra, TerraPower, Oklo unlocking up to 6.6 gigawatts for American AI. Tech giants now control the grid.

Updated May 16

Rule Changes

Ordering PJM to rewrite tariff rules for co-located load and behind-the-meter generation

Data centers found a shortcut: park next to a generator and drink power without waiting years for grid upgrades. On Dec. 18, FERC doubled down—unanimously—ordering PJM to rewrite its tariff so co-located mega-load can't stay "invisible" to planning, service definitions, and cost responsibility.

Updated May 15

Built World

Implementing Order 1920 transmission planning reforms

Seventy percent of America's power lines and transformers are over 25 years old, and nearly a third of transmission infrastructure has passed its useful life. Now electricity demand is rising at its fastest pace in decades, driven by data centers powering artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and reshored manufacturing. The Department of Energy just committed $1.9 billion to a program called SPARK that funds a deceptively simple fix: swapping old wires on existing towers for advanced conductors that can carry up to double the electricity, without the decade-long permitting fights required for new power lines.

Updated Mar 12