FERC blocks PJM's plan to manage data center interconnections
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- FERC Rejects PJM Large-Load Interconnection Plan: Federal regulators struck down most of PJM Interconnection's proposal for managing large load interconnections, citing state jurisdiction concerns and potential discrimination, a ruling that reshapes how data centers and other massive consumers plug into the grid across 13 states. Utility Dive. Read More: Utility Dive.
- Clearway Expands Utah Battery Hub to 2,120 MWh: Clearway Energy added 210 MW of storage capacity to its Honeycomb Energy Centre in southern Utah, pushing the facility's total fleet to 2,120 MWh and reinforcing its position as one of the larger battery complexes in the West. Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- NRC Staff Backs Four AP1000 Reactors Near Amarillo: A draft environmental impact statement from NRC staff recommends licensing four Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at Project Matador near Amarillo, Texas, a facility designed to power AI and high-performance computing operations. Supercomputing News. Read More: Supercomputing News.
- Foss & Company Closes $58M Tax Equity for Texas BESS: Foss & Company finalized a $58 million tax equity financing deal for GridStor's battery energy storage project in Hidalgo County, Texas, a signal that investor appetite for utility-scale storage remains strong even amid broader policy uncertainty. Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- Solar Industry Targets Georgia Utility Commission Race: Clean energy interests are pouring money into Georgia's November utility commission elections, where a party-control flip could reshape the state's energy procurement policies — one of nine states where voters will choose utility regulators this cycle. Canary Media. Read More: Canary Media.
Solar & Storage
Battery storage kept racking up capital and megawatt-hours on Tuesday, with two Texas deals and a major Utah expansion illustrating how the sector is scaling despite the uncertain fate of federal tax incentives. Clearway Energy's Honeycomb Energy Centre in southern Utah now holds 2,120 MWh of storage capacity after the company added 210 MW to the complex. For developers watching the Western interconnection, Honeycomb's growth matters because it demonstrates that standalone storage projects — not just solar-plus-storage hybrids — can attract repeat investment at a single site. Read More: added 210 MW.
Down in Hidalgo County, Texas, Foss & Company closed a $58 million tax equity deal for GridStor's BESS project, the kind of financing structure that depends on the investment tax credit provisions still on the books from 2022's Inflation Reduction Act. That deal is worth watching by anyone tracking whether tax equity investors are pricing in legislative risk; closing a transaction of that size right now suggests the market still treats existing ITC commitments as bankable. Read More: closed a $58 million tax equity deal.
TotalEnergies, meanwhile, made a strategic pivot that reverberates through both the solar and offshore wind sectors. The French energy major acquired U.S. solar assets after axing its offshore wind projects, a move that reflects a broader industry calculus: onshore solar's risk-return profile simply looks better than offshore wind's right now, particularly for international developers navigating permitting headwinds and supply chain costs on the East Coast. For U.S. solar developers, TotalEnergies' buying spree means more competition for sites and interconnection queue positions — but also validates asset valuations at a moment when some observers question whether the market is overbuilt. Read More: acquired U.S. solar assets after axing its offshore wind projects.
On the manufacturing side, Valo — the energy storage joint venture between Finland's Wärtsilä and its partners — disclosed that it is in discussions with "strong players" about establishing battery storage production in the United States. Domestic content bonuses under the IRA have been the primary magnet for these conversations, and Valo's interest adds another name to the growing list of international manufacturers weighing U.S. factory investments. Whether those discussions convert to shovels in the ground depends in part on how Congress handles the tax credit structure in the coming months. Read More: discussions with "strong players".
Policy & Markets
FERC's double-barreled action on PJM dominated the policy wire. The commission rejected most of PJM's proposal for managing large-load interconnections — read: data centers — finding that the plan intruded on state jurisdiction and risked discriminatory treatment. Separately, a federal regulatory panel approved PJM's registry of data centers but refused to let the operator curtail power to those facilities. The upshot: PJM can track where massive loads are landing, but it cannot unilaterally manage them or dictate the terms of their grid access. For clean energy developers, the ruling means new generation — whether solar, storage, or nuclear — remains the primary answer to data center demand across the PJM footprint, because demand-side management just got harder. Read More: rejected most of PJM's proposal, refused to let the operator curtail power.
That demand is exactly what's driving Project Matador in Texas. NRC staff issued a draft environmental impact statement favoring the licensing of four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors near Amarillo, purpose-built for AI and high-performance computing loads. If the project clears final review, it would mark one of the first U.S. nuclear builds explicitly tied to the data center boom — a development that puts nuclear squarely in competition with the utility-scale solar and storage projects chasing the same customers. Read More: draft environmental impact statement favoring the licensing.
In Wisconsin, a different energy planning debate is heating up. We Energies has proposed a 750-megawatt natural gas plant in Wrightstown, and critics are pushing regulators to weigh the gas proposal against renewable energy portfolios that combine solar, wind, and battery storage. The outcome could set a precedent for how Midwestern states evaluate resource adequacy — locking in a 750 MW gas plant means decades of fossil fuel commitments, while a renewables-plus-storage alternative would reshape procurement in the state. Read More: critics are pushing regulators.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico is pushing bipartisan permitting reform through the American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. The bill would streamline federal permitting timelines and remove certain reviews for facility upgrades — changes that would benefit both fossil fuel and renewable energy developers. Heinrich is working to pass the legislation before the new Congress convenes in January, a tight window that makes the bill's fate a near-term watch item for anyone with projects stuck in the federal review pipeline. Read More: pushing bipartisan permitting reform.
Pennsylvania's hydrogen ambitions, meanwhile, appear increasingly shaky. The state's hydrogen hub projects, part of a $7 billion federal funding program initiated during the Biden administration, are facing delays and uncertainty. For investors who placed early bets on hydrogen infrastructure, the stalled projects raise questions about whether federal funding commitments made under one administration will survive implementation under another. Read More: facing delays and uncertainty.
Georgia's utility commission elections are shaping up as a proxy fight over the state's energy future. The solar industry is spending heavily to flip party control of the commission this November. Georgia is one of nine states where voters directly elect utility regulators, and the outcome will determine who sets the rules for solar interconnection, rate design, and resource planning in one of the Southeast's fastest-growing energy markets. Read More: spending heavily.
In Iowa, USDA Rural Development invested $12.9 million across rural communities, with energy cooperatives Midland Power Cooperative and Central Iowa Power Cooperative among the recipients. The loan funds support infrastructure modernization — the kind of unglamorous grid-edge work that keeps rural distribution systems functional as more distributed generation comes online. Read More: invested $12.9 million.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Georgia Utility Commission Elections (November 2026): Voters will decide whether to flip party control of the state's public utility commission, with solar industry spending signaling how high the stakes are for clean energy procurement in the Southeast.
- Permitting Reform Before January: Sen. Heinrich's American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 faces a closing window before the new Congress convenes — developers with projects in federal review should track markup and floor vote schedules closely.
- Project Matador NRC Review: Public comment on the draft environmental impact statement for four AP1000 reactors near Amarillo will test whether data-center-dedicated nuclear can clear regulatory hurdles faster than conventional utility builds.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does FERC's rejection of PJM's large-load plan mean for clean energy developers in the mid-Atlantic?
A: It means demand management won't solve the data center capacity crunch — new generation will. With FERC blocking PJM from curtailing data center power or dictating interconnection terms, the grid operator's 13-state territory will need to add megawatts, not ration them. Developers with solar, storage, or nuclear projects in PJM's interconnection queue should see their value proposition strengthen as utilities scramble for supply-side solutions.
Q: Why should storage investors pay attention to the Foss & Company tax equity deal in Texas?
A: A $58 million tax equity close in October 2026 — with IRA provisions under political pressure — tells you that sophisticated financial players still treat existing storage tax credits as bankable. That's a real-time market signal about how Wall Street is pricing legislative risk, and it's more useful than any policy forecast.
Q: What's at stake in Wisconsin's 750 MW gas plant debate?
A: If Wisconsin regulators approve We Energies' proposal without a head-to-head comparison against a renewable-plus-storage portfolio, the state locks in decades of gas-fired generation and the associated fuel-price exposure. A requirement to evaluate clean energy alternatives would set a Midwestern precedent that could ripple into similar proceedings in neighboring states.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Federal regulators are telling the grid's biggest operator it can catalog data center demand but cannot manage it away — which means developers, not demand response, will have to fill a capacity gap that keeps growing by the quarter.