June 30, 2026 | Source: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — Large Load Show Cause Orders (Docket No. RM26-4-000, FPA Section 206), issued June 18, 2026
FERC's 60-Day Clock on Large Loads Is Now Running
On June 18, FERC issued tailored show cause orders to all six jurisdictional RTOs/ISOs — PJM, MISO, SPP, ISO-NE, NYISO, and CAISO — and their transmission owners.
Under Section 206 of the Federal Power Act, each must show within 60 days why its existing tariff is still just and reasonable without clear provisions for large loads — or file changes. That puts the deadline in mid-August.
The orders tee up five reform areas: efficient transmission service and study processes, cost-shift protection and cost transparency, co-location and behind-the-meter generation, new services for flexible large loads, and study processes for generation serving co-located load.
What It Means in the Control Room and the Planning Office
Each RTO gets latitude to define a "large load" and set operational requirements for its footprint. Expect new study queues, ramp and curtailment expectations, and registration thresholds aimed squarely at data centers and large computational load.
Transmission planners and interconnection teams should expect tariff filings and stakeholder processes to move fast this summer. Compliance staff should track this alongside NERC's parallel work to set registration criteria and reliability standards for large loads, targeted for a first phase in 2026.
For operators, the practical edge is the same as always: knowing how a multi-hundred-megawatt flexible load behaves during a contingency before it shows up on your displays — not after.
EPG Solutions Can Help
As large-load rules get written region by region, the operators and coordinators who can speak the language of SOLs, IROLs, and load-serving obligations under pressure are the ones who keep the lights on. GridCert RC training builds that fluency for the control room and the certification exam alike. Visit EPG Solutions → epgsolutions.services