Search
April 17, 2026
ERO Insider
NERC Board Approves Large Loads Level 3 Alert
NERC's planned Level 3 alert will provide essential actions for utilities to mitigate the reliability risks posed by data centers and other computational large loads.
Microsoft
NERC plans to issue a Level 3 alert May 4 with essential actions for utilities to mitigate the reliability risk of computational large loads.
RTO Insider
Google
FERC to Rule on Large Load Interconnection ANOPR in June
FERC says it will rule in June on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the interconnection of large loads requested by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
RTO Insider
Santa Clara I Data Center in Silicon Valley
Vantage Data Centers
CPUC Considers New Rate Design for Data Centers, Large Loads
The California Public Utilities Commission is considering whether new rate tariffs are needed for data center customers and other large-load customers to prevent stranded costs and cost-shifting.
RTO Insider
Shutterstock
FERC Rejects PJM Definition of Co-located Load
FERC partly approved PJM’s proposed clarifications on the interconnection requirements for generators seeking to serve adjacent load, but rejected the RTO’s proposed definition of “co-located load,” finding it deviated from the commission’s directive.
RTO Insider
From left: Cyn French, LF Bioenergy; Stephanie Raymond, Central Hudson; Greg Crowley, 95delta; Liz Bowman, The Williams Companies; and Chris Stolicky, New York State Department of Public Service, participate in a panel discussion April 16 at the New York Energy Summit in Albany.
© RTO Insider
Nuclear, Natural Gas Seen as Key Part of N.Y. Grid Future
New York Energy Summit panelists discussed the state's future electricity generation mix, with most agreeing that nuclear and natural gas will be a key part of it.
RTO Insider
CenterPoint Energy's F.B. Culley station
Sterling Industrial
CenterPoint Asked DOE Not to Extend Emergency Order for Culley Coal Plant
Prior to the U.S. Department of Energy’s extension of emergency orders for the F.B. Culley Generating Station, owner CenterPoint Energy asked the department not to re-up the stay-open mandate.
ERCOT Prelim Forecast: 430% Demand Increase by 2032
ERCOT filed a preliminary long-term load forecast that projects 367 GW of demand by 2032, a staggering 430% increase over its current peak demand of 85.5 GW.
FERC Pulls Plug on NOIs Covering DR and Utility Political Spending
FERC terminated a pair of NOIs that dated back to Chair Richard Glick's curtailed tenure, one on eliminating a state opt-out for demand response and another considering new rules to track utility political spending.
ERO Insider
SC Chair Todd Bennett, of AECI, addresses committee members at their monthly meeting April 15.
NERC
NERC SC Agrees to Shutter Standards Grading Process
NERC's Standards Committee voted to end the ERO's standards grading initiative, which lay neglected for four years, along with a group intended to propose improvements to it.
Expert Warns Quantum Horizon Closer than Expected
A cybersecurity expert warned listeners at an MRO-sponsored webinar that powerful quantum computers could soon make dominant security technologies obsolete.
CISA: Iranian Hackers Targeting U.S. Energy Sector
U.S. security agencies reported an escalation of attacks against critical infrastructure by Iranian threat actors since the beginning of the war in February 2026.
NetZero Insider
A solar array is shown in southern New York.
Shutterstock
Another Mass Cancellation of Renewable Contracts Brewing in N.Y.
Renewable energy certificate contracts signed years ago did not contain cost adjustment mechanisms and New York is refusing to consider adding them now, after construction costs soared.
N.Y. Energy Summit Discusses Renewables, Storage
Panelists at the New York Energy Summit offered assessments and strategies for the obstacles facing the state’s continuing efforts toward decarbonization.
N.Y. Energy Summit Examines Solutions to Permitting Delays, Cost Increases
Panelists at the 2026 New York Energy Summit discussed the challenges facing the state's power grid amid a constantly shifting landscape.
Want us to be your eyes and ears?
Let us put you "inside the room."
RTO Insider
Salem Harbor Power Station, a gas-fired generating plant in Salem, Mass.
Fletcher, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
ISO-NE Details Proposals to Cut Costs of Day-ahead Ancillary Services
ISO-NE detailed proposed changes to its day-ahead ancillary services market to address higher-than-expected costs.
MISO Rethinks Maintenance Margin Limits to Deter Capacity Outages at Peak Times
MISO staff said its maintenance margin — used to schedule planned generation outages and grant capacity accreditation exemptions — is at times off-base in its risk-to-supply adequacy judgment when owners request downtime for maintenance.
FERC Demands $1.1B in ‘Large and Brazen Fraud Case’
In "one of the largest and most brazen frauds in the history" of FERC, American Efficient has been ordered to pay a civil penalty of $722 million and disgorgement of unjust profits totaling about $410 million.
Ariz. Utilities Confident About Summer 2026 Despite WECC Warnings
Despite harsh weather and unprecedented load growth expected throughout the Western Interconnection, Arizona utilities said they are well prepared to meet demand reliably in summer 2026.
© RTO Insider
FERC Extends Refund Period for New England TOs Following ROE Order
FERC extended the timeline for the New England transmission owners to refund customers for excess revenues collected after the commission in March set a lower base return on equity with a 2014 effective date.
PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp Nears EDAM Opening with Focus on Market Settlements, Final Simulations
PacifiCorp is on schedule to enter CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market on May 1, with the utility now in its final phase of market settlements and simulations testing.
ERO Insider
Shutterstock
CIP Specialists Warn Compliance not Enough for Security
Speakers at a workshop hosted by Texas RE reminded attendees that compliance with NERC's Critical Infrastructure Protection standards is not enough to ensure security.
NERC Pushes Back on GIC Complaint
NERC asked FERC to deny a request to mandate studies on the grid's vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses and solar storms, saying its current reliability standards are sufficient.
SERC Members/Board Meeting Briefs: March 25, 2026
Representatives of Florida Power & Light urged fellow SERC Reliability members to start using artificial intelligence tools, even in their own personal lives, warning that its use on the grid is spreading too rapidly to not understand how it works.
Georgia Power to Pay $175K in NERC Penalties
FERC approved a settlement between Georgia Power and SERC Reliability that will see the utility pay $175,000 for violating NERC's reliability standards.
A map shows the area affected by the Iberian blackout.
ENTSO-E
Report: Poor Voltage Control, Lack of Regs Drove Iberian Grid Collapse
ENTSO-E's final report on the Iberian Peninsula blackout of April 2025 lays out the root causes and chain of events that led to the collapse of the grid, providing critiques of the numerous points of failure.
MISO's expedited interconnection queue totals as of early 2026
MISO
MISO: NERC to Dial Down RTO’s Risk Level; Members Create Large Load Working Group
In a case of déjà vu, MISO announced that NERC is poised to issue a follow-up to its Long-Term Reliability Assessment that stands to lower the RTO’s reliability vulnerability from “high risk” to “elevated.”
MOTUWETHFRSASU
Stakeholder Meetings
Industry Gatherings
Upcoming Event
Want us to be your eyes and ears?
Let us put you "inside the room."
NetZero Insider
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is flanked by House of Delegates Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D) during a press conference on April 13 announcing the deal.
Gov. Wes Moore via X
Maryland Legislature Passes Utility RELIEF Act Aimed at Affordability
Maryland legislators went down to the wire on their last day of session, passing legislation that aims to bring some relief to utility bills.
Vineyard Wind Seeks to Force GE Renewables to Finish Work
Vineyard Wind is asking a court to block its turbine manufacturer from walking away from the nearly complete offshore wind project as the two squabble over hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns.
Coal-fired Generation Retirements Slow Under Trump
Coal generation retirements dropped to a 15-year low in 2025 as the energy industry tried to maintain existing capacity and the Trump administration sought to halt coal’s decline.
Reports Flag Soaring Costs, Delays for New Gas-fired Generation
One new report flags risks entailed in the massive planned buildout of gas-fired generation, while another predicts a sharp continued rise in gas turbine prices.
Valley Center energy storage facility in San Diego County, Calif.
Terra-Gen
Terra-Gen Fined $5M for Using Batteries to Manipulate CAISO Market
FERC fined Terra-Gen nearly $5 million for strategically using its battery storage resources to repeatedly manipulate CAISO’s market over almost two years.
PSEG's Hope Creek and Salem nuclear plant
Peretz Partensky, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
N.J. Removes ‘Moratorium’ Blocking New Nuclear Plants
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill paved the way for the development of new nuclear plants by removing a permitting rule that for four decades created a “de facto moratorium” on reactor construction.