Ontario approved IESO’s proposed $1.5 billion HVDC line under Lake Ontario, which planners say is needed to meet a potential doubling of Toronto’s electricity demand by 2050.

Just days into 2026, MISO already has approved or recommended dozens of expedited transmission projects for the 2026 cycle, including a substation project in Indiana that spawned several hundred million dollars in corrective action upgrades.

The Bonneville Power Administration outlined suggested modifications to its commercial business model as the agency explores updating transmission processes.

California’s electricity consumption is projected to increase dramatically over the coming decades due in large part to planned artificial intelligence data centers, although questions remain about how many of those data centers actually will be built.

FERC defended Order 1920 against appeals in a brief filed Jan. 5, saying the transmission planning and cost allocation rule is firmly within its authority and builds on previous pathbreaking rulemakings like Orders 888 and 1000.

MISO announced it will partner with Microsoft’s AI technologies to operate its markets and plan its system.

SPP has opened an office in Denver, giving it a physical presence in the Western Interconnection as it seeks to open two different markets in the West.

Heading into 2026, New England is counting on an increasingly collaborative approach to energy policy as federal opposition to renewable energy development threatens affordability, reliability, and decarbonization objectives in the region.

MISO has indicated that new generation to serve data centers and other large loads will be mission critical over 2026 and said it will take pains to interconnect units.

The defining story of the coming year will be the widening chasm between electricity supply and demand, a dynamic driven by a slow-moving supply side, coupled with the explosive growth of energy-hungry data centers, says columnist Peter Kelly-Detwiler.