On October 21, 2026, NERC asked FERC to approve new rules that would put the owners and operators of large AI data centers on its compliance registry. NERC is the organization FERC certified to write and enforce mandatory reliability rules for the power grid. The compliance registry is NERC’s list of companies that must follow those rules. NERC says this is the first time it would register certain large electricity customers because of how they affect the grid. NERC petition
What did NERC file?
The filing creates two new kinds of registered company. A computational load owner is the company that owns and maintains a computational load site, and a computational load operator is the company that operates one. A computational load site is one or more buildings at a single location that mainly hold computing equipment for software services, AI training and use, cryptocurrency mining, or other computing at a data center. The site must also draw power through equipment connected to the high voltage grid. NERC summary
NERC’s reason is how these sites behave when voltage dips. In 2024, a transmission line problem in the Eastern grid caused about 1,500 megawatts of computing load to drop off at once. A megawatt measures how much power something draws at one moment. A July 2026 event involved nearly 3,900 megawatts of computing load dropping off and pushing voltage up. NERC petition NERC also says the utilities already on its list cannot fix this alone, because they often cannot get modeling data from these sites or coordinate with them directly.
Which sites would have to register
A site must register if its total connected load is 50 megawatts or more and the equipment supplying it connects at 100 kilovolts or more. A kilovolt is a unit of voltage, and lines at 100 kilovolts and above carry power across the high voltage grid. NERC first proposed 20 megawatts and 60 kilovolts in April and raised both numbers after public comments. NERC response to comments NERC estimates the final test would cover about 68,288 megawatts, roughly 86 percent of the computing load expected by the end of 2027. NERC petition
Three details in the filing narrow or widen who is covered. The voltage test looks at the high side of the equipment feeding the site, no matter who owns that equipment. So a site does not escape the rule because its utility owns the transformer that serves it. The word mainly keeps out a factory or power plant that uses some computers to run its own process, and NERC declined to set a fixed percentage. The words owns and maintains keep out a passive investor holding a small financial stake.
| Item | Before the proposal | Under the proposal |
|---|---|---|
| Who NERC registers | Owners and operators of generation and transmission | Adds owners and operators of computational load sites |
| Size trigger for a load site | None | 50 megawatts or more of connected load |
| Voltage trigger for a load site | None | Supply equipment connected at 100 kilovolts or more |
| Mandatory reliability rules | Did not apply to these sites | Apply once the matching standards take effect |
| Factory with some computers | Not registered | Still not registered unless the site is mainly computing |
What would a registered site have to do?
Registration itself sets the duty to follow every mandatory reliability standard written for that type of company. The petition does not contain those standards. On October 26, NERC’s board adopted the first three. CLO-001 covers interconnection studies and modeling data. CLO-002 covers operating data and communications with grid operators, and CLO-003 covers coordinating protection settings and recording disturbances. Keentel Those standards still need separate FERC approval, so none of them bind anyone yet.
The owner and the operator can be different companies, as they often are when a landlord leases a building to a computing tenant. NERC says companies may sign contracts to assign which one handles each requirement. A company that thinks it meets the test but has no real effect on the grid can ask a NERC review panel to keep it off the registry.
When FERC could act
FERC ordered NERC in July to file registry criteria and a first set of computing load standards by December 31, 2026. POWER NERC met that order for the registry part and asked FERC to decide quickly. It says early approval would let it start contacting likely registrants before the standards take effect. According to a law firm analysis, comments and requests to join FERC case RR27-1-000 are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on November 20, 2026. Law firm analysis
Tomorrow’s topic
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission hearing on PSO’s large load tariff.