The U.S. government has given the green light for the AI data center to be connected to the grid, requesting that the operators expedite the approval process.

June 19, 2024 — The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a unanimous order Thursday mandating that the nation’s six major grid operators speed up interconnection requests from data centers and other large electricity users. Per the rule, grid operators must demonstrate that data centers can connect to the transmission system in a timely, orderly fashion, with data centers responsible for covering all associated interconnection costs. The full unanimous approval from FERC commissioners signals a clear push to reduce bottlenecks for high-power-demand facilities. FERC also moved to support grid technology startups by directing operators to evaluate “alternative transmission technologies.” Though not explicitly named in the order, this category could cover innovations like solid-state transformers or superconductive transmission lines. Operators face tight compliance deadlines: they must submit a report within 30 days outlining any available generation redundancy capacity, and either defend or revise their regional tariff structures within 60 days. The commission also instructed operators to expand support for data centers’ use of “behind-the-meter resources” — meaning customer-side self-generation or self-supply. To read the full original article or join BlockBeats’ Feishu AI News Channel for 24/7 global AI trend and news monitoring, click the provided link.