Power for compute
Grid rules for large loads
11 summaries of what grid operators and regulators say about connecting data centres and other large loads. Each has its operator, region, topic, date and a link to the page it came from.
The summaries are in our own words. We read each source page directly. Where a page shows no date, the date is the day we read it. Figures stay with the entry that states them and are not added together.
What this page is for
A new data centre needs a grid connection, and the rules for getting one differ by operator. This page collects the large load rules, processes and forecasts we have read so far. It is a starting list, not a full register, and it does not cover every operator. A missing operator means we have not read its page yet, not that it has no rules.
| Operator | Region | Topic | Summary | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERCOT | Texas, United States | Large load batch study process | ERCOT is building a Batch Study process that groups large loads meeting strict requirements into single studies, to give consistent and system-wide results. The working group page lists meetings from December 2025 (workshops from February 2026) and weekly Batch Zero readiness meetings up to July 2026, with nothing scheduled for September. | 2026-10-03 | Read the official source |
| AEMO | National Electricity Market, Australia | Data centre connections and demand outlook | AEMO calls data centres among the fastest growing sources of demand and says large connections are targeting about two years from application to energisation. Its page counts 11 large transmission pipeline projects above 5MW, and it expects the share of national electricity use to rise by 2030 and 2050. It has also asked the AEMC, through a rule change request, for a clearer and more consistent framework for how large loads connect and perform. | 2026-06-01 | Read the official source |
| AEMO | National Electricity Market, Australia | Data centre forecast method and project completion rate | AEMO's 2026 forecast overview combines developer project data with economic modelling. It notes that many announced projects have not been built historically, which is why it does not treat the full list of developing sites as expected demand. The overview projects operational consumption from data centres roughly tripling by FY30 under its Step Change scenario. | 2026-08-25 | Read the official source |
| AEMC (for Australian ministers) | Australia | Large load register and cost recovery | The energy minister's rule change requests propose a public register of prospective and existing large loads of 5MW or more, prudential arrangements to guard against stranded network assets, and guidance on transmission connection pricing. The AEMC opened consultation on them on 24 September 2026. | 2026-07-01 | Read the official source |
| EirGrid | Ireland | Data centre connection offer process (CRU policy implementation) | Version 3 of EirGrid's process applies to data centres of 1MVA or more seeking transmission connection. Applicants must show dispatchable on-site or nearby generation matched to import capacity, plus new Irish renewable supply for at least 80% of annual demand over a six-year glide path. Applications in constrained network areas cannot proceed, and EirGrid estimates about 7.5 to 18 months to process complete applications depending on generation status. | 2026-05-20 | Read the official source |
| FERC | United States (PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, ISO-NE, NYISO) | Large load show cause orders | On 18 June 2026 FERC ordered six grid operators to justify or reform their tariffs for large loads, covering transmission service procedures, cost transparency, co-located generation, flexible transmission service and generation serving adjacent loads. Operators had 60 days to respond and 30 days to report on resource adequacy. | 2026-06-18 | Read the official source |
| SPP | Central United States | High Impact Large Load integration | SPP offers a Conditional High Impact Large Load service with expedited access and possible curtailment during system stress, and a generation assessment that studies loads and supporting on-site generation in parallel. It targets interconnection agreements within 90 days and is holding stakeholder question sessions from May to October 2026. | 2026-10-03 | Read the official source |
| PJM | Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, United States | Large load ride-through reliability proposal | PJM wants large computational loads to ride through grid disturbances rather than disconnect, after a July 2026 event in northern Virginia when close to 4,000MW of data centre load dropped. It intends to file proposals with FERC in November 2026 and says MISO, ERCOT and NERC are developing similar standards. | 2026-09-10 | Read the official source |
| NESO | Great Britain | Connections reform Gate 2 offer timetable | NESO's timeline shows Gate 2 offers for transmission and large embedded projects issued in two phases, mid-May to mid-September 2026 and early September 2026 to mid-January 2027, and distribution offers in two phases, early July to mid-November 2026 and mid-October 2026 to mid-March 2027. The page does not break out data centres or other demand, so it is context for queue timing only. | 2026-10-03 | Read the official source |
| Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | United States | Queued Up 2026 edition, generation and storage queues | The 2026 edition reports the active generation and storage queue fell about 10% year on year by end 2025, with gas capacity rising sharply and a median of over five years from request to operation for projects built in 2025. It states that load interconnection requests, including data centres, are not in the dataset, so it should not be read as a measure of data centre queues. | 2026-05-01 | Read the official source |
| TenneT (Netherlands); ACM decision | Netherlands | Historical TDTR notification timing and release time granularity | ACM amended the Dutch TDTR code provisions in its decision of 23 April 2026. The amendment changes notification timing and the time granularity used to release capacity. | 2026-04-23 | Read the official source |
Historical Dutch TDTR amendment
Staatscourant 2026, 17010; ACM/UIT/671095; ACM/25/199016
ACM amended the Dutch TDTR code provisions in its decision of 23 April 2026. The amendment changes notification timing and the time granularity used to release capacity.
This account concerns the historical amendment only. It does not establish current consolidated law, any project's eligibility or available transport capacity. The table's as-of date is the decision event date.
Inspect dates, source use and limits
- Source publication
- 7 May 2026
- Source update
- Not recorded
- Event date
- 23 April 2026
- Source retrieval
- Not recorded
- Independent precise-use review
- 2026-10-31T23:14:15.906Z
- Evidence checked
- 31 October 2026
- Source version
- Not recorded
- Instrument
- Staatscourant 2026, 17010; ACM/UIT/671095; ACM/25/199016
- Recorded version
- decision of 23 April 2026
- Effective date (calendar inference)
- 8 May 2026
- Inference basis
- Calendar consequence of Article II: day after the Gazette issue dated 7 May 2026; separately identified inference, not a retrieval clock.
- Applicability
- Dutch Systeemcode elektriciteit 2026 TDTR amendment only. Not TenneT Germany, a site-specific offer, or guaranteed unrestricted transport.
- Later changes
- The amendment supplies its own commencement rule. Consolidated current code and later amendments were not reviewed.
Consolidated TDTR product provisions were not reviewed in this narrow amendment account. No congestion-area headroom or project eligibility is established.
Only minimal independently worded attributed facts and ordinary unframed links are used. No source narrative, table, chart, marks, personal contacts, dataset or full document is copied. No open licence or recurring-monitoring grant is asserted. Reuse terms: No open licence recorded. Source site notice; this link is not a licence grant.
Reading these entries
- A process or proposal is not a rule in force. Each summary says which it is.
- Timelines are the operator's own targets or estimates, not guarantees.
- The Berkeley Lab entry is about generation and storage queues, not data centre demand. See grid queues for the figures.
Related
- US grid connection queues, from Berkeley Lab Queued Up
- News, including recent grid and data centre rule changes
- Data centre records and policy register
- This list as JSON
The ten retained summaries: Checked 3 October 2026. Due for review by 3 January 2027. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. See also sources and licences.