Welcome to a new week. Grid crews regularly face all sorts of hazards—in some places, these include venomous reptiles. In Texas, an AEP crew recently encountered a nearly 4-foot-long rattlesnake (everyone, including the snake, is fine). A good reminder to expect the unexpected.
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— Molly, Carrie, and the Energy Central editorial team
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FERC’s long-awaited large-load orders have arrived. Here’s what you might’ve missed. 👀
The context: As we reported last week, FERC has directed all six regional grid operators to “justify” whether their tariffs for large loads can accommodate the data center frenzy—and, if not, make the necessary adjustments. The caveat? FERC cautioned that it’s not trying to step on states’ toes when it comes to generation or rate-setting (or mess with existing large-load transmission agreements).
What’s buried: Deep in these documents, FERC calls for cost-recovery agreements for certain transmission upgrades. These would require data center developers to hand over funds upfront to avoid cost-shifting to other wholesale transmission customers if projects don’t pan out.
What’s left out: The orders tell grid operators to consider alternative transmission technologies...but don’t actually require anyone to use them, energy consultant Rao Konidena pointed out on Substack. This “reads less like a considered ATT mandate and more like a jurisdictionally cautious show-cause framing FERC could defend,” he wrote.
The big picture: “The key to this whole thing is [data center] flexibility,” energy entrepreneur Jigar Shah told Energy Central. This flexibility could come in plenty of forms, from behind-the-meter generation to demand-flexing software. (For more on the latter, check out our Power Perspectives episode with Arushi Sharma Frank, Senior Advisor on Power Utilities at Emerald AI.)
Another SMR has gone critical ahead of President Trump’s July 4 deadline.
On Thursday, Valar Atomics’s Ward250 became the second advanced nuclear reactor in the DOE’s pilot program to reach criticality (exactly two weeks after Antares Nuclear’s Mark-0 reactor hit that milestone). Plus, it’s the first DOE-authorized reactor built outside of a national lab. The company’s next goal? Churn out power in the reactor…before July 4.
Speaking of: Elementl Power has signed an agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy to build a 1.5-GW SMR plant in Ohio. Elementl has filed a request to connect to PJM for the plant’s first 600MW of output. (PJM is expected to make a decision later this year.)
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CAISO wants to prevent data center disconnections from disturbing the grid.
The details: Amid all the large-load discourse this week, CAISO has shared proposed technical requirements for computational large loads (i.e. data centers). These include frequency ride-through rules, which are “intended to prevent unnecessary tripping of large loads” and aid in grid reliability.
The context: Power pros are on high alert after data centers on the East Coast and in Texas experienced GW-scale load drops in 2024 and 2025. These incidents have spurred NERC to update its reliability standards (an effort that’s still ongoing).
Startup Mantle Energy wants to turn former oil fields into geothermal hubs.
The company has raised $5M to test a not-so-typical geothermal concept: performing controlled combustion in shale formations (around 90% of the hydrocarbons linger there after oil production).
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Thanks for reading. Bye for now!