FERC, ANOPR, and DOE, Oh My!

gavel

Written by: Shira Lyss-Loren, YSE ‘27

 

In the final weeks of 2025, the federal government began an attempt “to fast-track data center grid connection, which would potentially prioritize data center grid needs over all other energy consumers”, shared Carter Harms, YSE ‘27, who has been following the process closely. For those not regularly steeped in the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) affairs who are hoping to catch up on making sense of what the DOE letter and FERC’s ANOPR mean and why they matter, this one’s for you. 

 

First, a brief timeline

 

In late October (Oct 23, 2025), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright directed FERC to issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR) that would create new rules for large load interconnections. Large loads are industrial and commercial facilities that demand significant energy from the grid, requiring intentional planning before they connect. Industry focus on large load interconnection is driven by exploding data center energy demand, a 2024 (DOE) report estimates that data center load growth will double or triple by 2028 compared to 2023 levels.

Just five days after the initial letter, Oct 27, 2025, FERC invited public comments on the ANOPR proposed by Secretary Wright. FERC extended the deadline to November 28th and required reply comments by December 5th, 2025. Notably, the deadline from DOE Secretary Wright for FERC to publish a final rule is April 30th, 2026, an unprecedented turnaround time for the federal rulemaking process.

 

What are Yale students doing?

 

Yale graduate students recognized Secretary Wright’s letter as a significant moment in federal energy policy and a stark reflection of the desperate need for the U.S. energy system to evolve towards meeting growing energy demand. Led by Carter Harms, YSE ‘27, students from the Yale School of Environment, Law School, School of Management, and Jackson School of Global Affairs have met weekly, leveraging their vast professional experiences from across the energy industry to analyze the key issues raised in the DOE letter and ANOPR. In November, Harms built an AI-powered analysis system that allowed students to more quickly and efficiently parse through the 150+ comments submitted in response to the ANOPR. Carly Berke, SOM/YSE ‘28, shared that the letter from Secretary Wright became a hands-on academic and professional learning experience for her and other Yale graduate students interested in the U.S. energy regulatory proceedings. The group even had the opportunity to meet with the most recent FERC Chair Mark Christie to get his perspective on the ANOPR. “As a staunch advocate for state regulators, former Chair Christie's insights into the proposed expansion of FERC's authority were invaluable. Hearing a leading energy regulator express doubts about this effort underscored the critical importance of our group's work in tracking the federal government's direction” shared Harms, reflecting on the trajectory of the group's work. 

 

So, what’s the drama?

 

At the core of the 150+ comments submitted to FERC during the comment period are several tensions, notably: 1) Reliability and Load Growth, 2) Concerns About Affordability for Rate Payers, 3) The Definition of a ‘Large Load’, and 4) Federal v. State Jurisdiction.

 

Reliability 

As energy demand rapidly increases, we face a tradeoff between speed of interconnection and reliability of electric grid operations. “If we interconnect new large loads too quickly, without sufficient new energy generation, the grid can’t keep up. That imbalance can trigger significant reliability issues,” shared Maya Nitschke Alonso, YLS ‘28. This dynamic is only exacerbated by the fact that our current grid infrastructure is outdated, and thus is unable to handle the large new generation and loads associated with skyrocketing energy demand. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) sets the reliability standards for the U.S. electricity grid and expressed concerns that the new Rule outlined in the ANOPR needs to respect the scope of NERC’s authority to define reliability standards through its own due process. Independently, NERC has also expressed concerns regarding the impact of data centers, with NERC CEO Jim Robb recently describing projected load growth as a “five-alarm fire” for grid reliability.

 

Affordability

As families and businesses across the country have noticed, retail energy bills are rising, especially for those living near data centers. Compounding this issue, comments from the National Association of State Utility Commissioners (NARUC) highlight concerns that the Rule may force smaller customers to subsidize data centers’ rapid interconnection with higher bills, due to increased costs from drivers like transmission upgrades and reliability issues. Further, Aaron Boockvar-Klein, YSE ‘27, notes that “there is concern that many proposed data centers may not ultimately be built, which can lead to inflated grid upgrade needs. If utility infrastructure spending due to data center growth is not accurately and enforceably assigned to the data centers, then individual households would be on the hook for these costs.” While the ANOPR proposes that data centers should pay for network upgrades associated with their streamlined connection, commenters argue affordability is still a chief concern as the data center boom has already driven up energy prices for retail consumers like you and me. 

 

‘Large Load’ Definition

To fasttrack large load interconnection to the grid, what exactly a ‘large load’ is must be defined. Harms, the lead of the student group, expressed that "as FERC considers expanding its jurisdiction to influence how new energy users connect to the grid, a key question it must answer is who this new process will apply to, or what level of MW demand will need to follow the new Rule". Commenters propose a range of ‘large load’ definitions ranging from 20-300 MW. Some argue that 20 MW is too low, considering manufacturers often surpass that threshold and could then potentially circumvent state retail authority. Supporters of a lower MW threshold for large loads argue that a load of 20 MW impacts grid stability and operations, meaning even these smaller large loads should be considered ‘large load’ and thus managed at a federal level for consistent and coherent regulation.

 

Jurisdiction

The ANOPR also raises a key question as to whether the proposed Rule to fast-track data center connectivity unlawfully extends FERC’s authority over that of states. Generally, “the Federal Power Act (FPA) of 1935 grants FERC authority over wholesale electricity and interstate transmission but reserves authority over retail electricity—the electricity that ratepayers like us buy from utilities—to the states”, says Nitschke Alonso. Recently, several states have begun to address large load interconnection via new tariffs and rates for new large loads like data centers. The Maryland Public Service Commission, among other commenters, expressed jurisdictional concern that the new federal Rule would “delay, undo, or otherwise frustrate” their state-level large-load policy. While the FPA and FERC’s historical role is legally complex and historically significant, concern regarding federal vs. state regulatory jurisdiction over our energy grid echoed across dozens of ANOPR comments, showcasing a central tension of what jurisdictional balance is needed to modernize our electricity system. 

There is an abundance of existing research, op-eds, and legal articles published in the past several weeks exploring these concerns more in depth, in addition to concerns regarding transparency, load flexibility, and due process. Additional resources recommended by Yale students regarding the FERC ANOPR are included at the bottom for interested readers, and if you’d like to connect with the group please reach out to carter.harms@yale.edu.

 

Additional Resources:

 

References

  1. ^ https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/403%20Large%20Loads%20Letter.pdf
  2. ^https://www.nerc.com/globalassets/who-we-are/legal--regulatory/filings--orders/nerc-filings-to-ferc/2025/large-loads-faqs.pdf
  3. ^ https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20251027-3056
  4. ^https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/ferc-issues-notice-extending-comment-period-proposed-anopr-interconnection-large
  5. ^ https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/403%20Large%20Loads%20Letter.pdf
  6. ^https://www.morganlewis.com/blogs/powerandpipes/2025/11/doe-large-load-interconnection-proposal-risks-regulatory-collision-course
  7. ^ https://www.nerc.com/newsroom/nerc-files-comments-in-response-to-fercs-large-loads-anopr
  8. ^ https://www.utilitydive.com/news/data-center-grid-reliability-ferc-nerc/803467/
  9. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-data-centers-electricity-prices/
  10. ^ https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20251205-5158
  11. ^  https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/403%20Large%20Loads%20Letter.pdf
  12. ^ https://www.csis.org/analysis/whats-stake-fercs-large-load-proposal
  13. ^ Ibid
  14. ^ https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-large-load-interconnection-ferc-naruc/806278/
  15. ^ https://sepapower.org/large-load-tariffs-database/
  16. ^https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20251121-5212
  17. ^ https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/long-live-the-federal-power-acts-bright-line/