The US Government is urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expedite the process of allowing data centers to connect to the electricity grid.

According to reporting from Bloomberg, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is pushing FERC to accelerate its review process for new data centers.

Under the draft proposal, reviews would be limited to 60 days, completely revolutionizing the connection process, which can take up to ten years in some jurisdictions.

The new rules would apply only to new loads greater than 20MW and to hybrid facilities with a load greater than 20MW. In addition, the proposal states that “to the extent practicable, load and hybrid facilities should be studied together with generating facilities. Such an approach will allow for efficient siting of loads and generating facilities and thereby minimize the need for costly network upgrades.”

The reforms would also include cost responsibility requiring load and hybrid facilities to pay 100 percent of assigned network upgrade costs, with possible cost-crediting over time.

As part of the proposal, Wright made light of the “unprecedented current and expected growth of large loads seeking to interconnect to the transmission system,” contending that “it has become necessary to standardize interconnection procedures and agreements for such loads, including those seeking to share a point of interconnection with new or existing generation facilities.”

The rule change has been supported by data center companies, especially in the aftermath of FERC’s rejection of the proposed behind-the-meter power agreement between AWS and Talen Energy. Since then, FERC has made several announcements that have had an impact on the data center world. Most recently, in September, FERC urged utilities and regulators to refine load forecasting practices as a means to keep pace with surging energy demand from the data center sector.

In February, the commission launched a review of colocation agreements between AI-focused data centers and generation sites in PJM as a means to clarify guidelines for nearly 8.5GW of proposed projects that avoid the traditional interconnection process.

The commission has also seen a major shakeup in personnel since President Trump's return to the White House. In October, the US Senate approved the appointment of Laura V. Swett, of Virginia, and David A. LaCerte, of Louisiana, with Swett set to take the position of Chair.