FERC Data Center Order Prioritizes Demand, Leaves Clean Energy Behind

In response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) issuing orders for six of the nation’s regional grid operators, directing them to “justify or reform the rules that govern how data centers, manufacturing facilities, and other large energy users connect to the grid,” Evergreen Action Federal Affairs Director Dani Hupper released the following statement:

“It’s past time for data centers to pay for the pollution and increased demand on the grid that they are driving across the country. Big tech must take responsibility for the burdens they are placing on the grid so that American consumers and small businesses don’t get stuck with the bill. The FERC order today includes provisions requiring grid operators to protect households and businesses from bearing the transmission costs to connect data centers, which is a step in the right direction. 

“If policymakers truly want to prevent data centers from increasing costs for Americans, it must not only require that data centers pay for the cost of their grid upgrades, but must also require them to power with low-cost clean energy. This is essential to maintaining grid reliability, reducing climate pollution, and making life more affordable for American families. Clean energy is the cheapest way for data centers to power their growing electricity demands without raising grid infrastructure and fuel prices for everyone else and locking communities into an ongoing cycle of pollution in the air we breathe. It is imperative that FERC and other federal and state policymakers prioritize a clean path forward for data centers.”

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