August 23, 2026 | Source: PJM Interconnection filing, Docket No. EL26-67-000, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
PJM Files Its Answer to FERC's Large Load Show Cause Order
On August 13, 2026, PJM filed its proposed framework for connecting new data centers and other large load customers with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The filing responds to FERC's June 18, 2026 order in Docket No. EL26-67-000, which found PJM's tariff may be unjust and unreasonable because it contains no definition of "large load" for the PJM region.
PJM's proposal centers on a new Interim Resource Adequacy Service (IRAS) for large loads that don't bring their own generation, and it holds new large loads to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge: build, bring, or buy the power needed to serve new demand, and pay full freight for it.
What This Means for Operators and Planners
If you sit in interconnection queue management or resource planning at a PJM-footprint utility, this filing is the template you'll be measuring every large load request against once FERC rules on it.
Watch for how FERC treats the IRAS mechanism specifically. If accepted, it becomes the pressure valve for large loads that want to interconnect before they've secured their own generation — and the terms of that valve will shape queue behavior across every other RTO waiting on its own show cause response.
Reliability coordinators and transmission planners should also note the cost-shift language. PJM's framework ties large load cost responsibility directly to the resources they bring, which is the same principle FERC flagged when it opened this docket. Expect MISO, SPP, CAISO, ISO-NE, and NYISO filings to lean on similar cost-causation logic in the coming weeks.
EPG Solutions Can Help
Tracking how each RTO answers its show cause order — and what it means for your interconnection queue — is exactly what EPG Solutions' benchmark intelligence reports are built for, comparing large load policy design across every RTO footprint side by side. Visit EPG Solutions → epgsolutions.services