Newly minted American Electric Power CEO Bill Fehrman is promising to “embrace large load opportunities,” leverage its expertise in 765-kV transmission and deliver more positive regulatory outcomes.

The Southeast’s traditionally risk-averse vertically integrated utilities are now embracing the clean energy transition, driven by economic development in the form of new industry and data centers.

On top of its 350 MW of current data center load, PSEG has received formal applications for nearly 400 MW of new data center load and inquiries on over 1,200 MW in data center feasibility studies in new business.

Dominion Energy reported net income of $953 million in the third quarter this year, as it continued to see load growth from data centers, progress on its offshore wind project, and infrastructure damage from Hurricane Helene.

FERC rejected an amended ISA filed by PJM to allow an existing data center co-located at a Talen Energy nuclear plant to expand, saying it did not meet the commission's standards for changes from its pro forma rules.

Xcel Energy is welcoming the coming wave of data centers despite the increased demand they will place on the grid, saying it will accelerate transmission and generation build.

FERC Commissioner David Rosner talked about his hope for more consensus on rehearing for Order 1920, and a panel of experts discussed supply chain issues at the WIRES fall meeting.

EPRI launched its DCFlex initiative, which is meant to maximize demand flexibility from data centers to help them more quickly plug into the grid and provide demand response for emergencies.

AEP Ohio submitted a settlement agreement that would provide a buffer on the cost risks of building infrastructure to serve future data centers that may not use as much electricity as they initially propose.