Large Load Resource Adequacy: What Six RTOs Told FERC

FERC opened separate large-load proceedings for six regional grid operators on June 18, 2026. Its show-cause orders allowed operators to justify their existing tariffs or propose changes. They did not create one national interconnection design or purchasing deadline. FERC announcement

Keep each region’s proceeding separate

The proceedings cover PJM, SPP, NYISO, MISO, CAISO and ISO New England. A useful comparison records the current tariff, the proposed change, the latest commission action and any effective date. An informational report or planned filing date belongs in a different field from an approved requirement.

What ISO New England proposed

ISO-NE’s July account identified two approaches it considered necessary: requiring new large loads to bring incremental generation and excluding those loads from capacity-market procurement. It described further stakeholder work and detailed rules to follow. Its updated account records an August 3 abeyance request and August 14 approval, supporting a stakeholder process ahead of a proposed November filing. These statements describe a development process, not an effective equipment obligation. ISO-NE update

A proposal about who supplies capacity does not establish who owns a generator, whether it connects behind the meter, or who orders a transformer. Those questions require the applicable tariff and the project’s agreements and design.

Later actions can change the comparison

PJM’s later proceedings illustrate the risk of treating July plans as settled. FERC suspended the backstop on September 29, and its October 9 decision accepted the Large Load definition and registry while rejecting IRAS and the remaining package. The PJM rule analysis and auction analysis distinguish those instruments.

CAISO’s large-load initiative remained in proposal development when checked October 18, with a tariff-language meeting scheduled for October 19 and a tentative October 28 board date. Neither event is an equipment-order deadline. CAISO initiative

What belongs in an equipment forecast

Before assigning equipment demand to a rule change, identify the affected project, the effective obligation, the existing capability and the approved remedy. Separate generation capacity from load, and distinguish a study target from an in-service date.

Record the purchasing party from the actual contract. Cost allocation can affect who funds an upgrade without deciding who specifies, owns or buys it. Keep possible demand separate from a supplier award, and update the forecast when a filing, approval or project commitment changes.

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