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Data centre buildings in Ashburn, Loudoun County, Virginia — Photo: Theodore Christopher, CC0

Policy Watch|United States

FERC rejects PJM’s plan to cut power to new data centres first in a shortage, but approves a registry of every 50 MW load

On 9 October the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted PJM’s new definition of a ‘Large Load’ (50 MW or more at one site) and a Large Load Registry, effective 12 October. It rejected the core of the plan: an ‘Interim Resource Adequacy Service’ that would have let new data centres connect without matching new generation if they agreed to be curtailed first, plus ‘bring your own new capacity’ rules. FERC said the curtailment plan appears to regulate retail electricity service, which is the states’ job.

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Hydro-Québec 450 kV transmission line along Route 20, Quebec — Photo: Azumanga1, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cost of Living|Canada

Hydro-Québec asks the regulator to make large data centres pay about 13¢/kWh, roughly double today’s rate

In Régie de l’énergie file R-4333-2026, Hydro-Québec proposes a new Rate CD for data centres with 5 MW or more of authorized demand, priced at about 13 ¢/kWh in 2026 dollars against an estimated 6.82 ¢/kWh under current rates. It says new supply costs 12 ¢/kWh at the margin, against an average of 4.8 ¢. The Régie heard Hydro-Québec’s evidence from 1 to 9 October; intervenors, including Google, are heard in December. No decision yet.

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