FERC Targets Data Center Interconnection Delays

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2026 – Federal regulators plan to take “widespread action” next month aimed at accelerating large-load interconnections and easing mounting pressure on the electric grid from data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Laura Swett said Tuesday.

“We will be taking widespread action across the country in June,” Swett said during a fireside chat at a United States Energy Association event in Washington.

Swett declined to provide specifics but said regulators could no longer remain solely reactive as electricity demand accelerates.

“It’s very clear to me that this is not a time when FERC can sit back and be receptive,” she said.

Swett said the United States faces growing strain as utilities, grid operators, and regulators attempt to connect rapidly expanding data center demand to an aging transmission system.

“We have the largest concentration of data centers that are in the queue across the country,” she said.

She described large-load interconnections and AI infrastructure as central economic and national security challenges, arguing the commission now sits “at the epicenter” of efforts to accelerate power deployment and grid modernization.

According to Swett, regulators have already approved a range of proposals designed to speed generation interconnections and large-load connections across regional transmission systems.

She also said the commission was reviewing longstanding proceedings and regulations that have delayed infrastructure development, including unresolved “zombie dockets” that had remained open for years.

“Oftentimes commercial negotiations are chilled or just completely stopped because FERC has not acted,” Swett said.

Swett said the commission was also preparing changes to accelerate pipeline permitting reviews after recent Supreme Court rulings limited the scope of federal environmental analysis requirements.

The comments come as lawmakers and regulators increasingly push permitting reforms aimed at shortening environmental review timelines for major infrastructure projects.

The commission had identified portions of environmental reviews that were no longer legally required and was preparing reforms intended to shorten review timelines, she said.

Swett also called on Congress to revise portions of the Clean Water Act that allow states to effectively block interstate energy infrastructure projects.

“They should not be able to effectively veto a project on their own unilaterally,” Swett said, referring to state-level permitting authority under the law.