THE DAILY MINE ⛏️

Good morning. Federal regulators rejected PJM's shortcut for connecting data centers in the same week the region needed another emergency order to keep the lights on.

Top Stories

FERC REJECTS PJM'S DATA CENTER POWER SHORTCUT
Utility Dive
Federal regulators rejected the core of PJM's plan to connect large loads without matching new capacity if they accepted curtailment. FERC said the rules intruded on state authority and could discriminate against large customers, though it approved a registry tracking their locations, ramp schedules and power supplies.

DOE DECLARES ANOTHER GRID EMERGENCY IN PJM
U.S. Department of Energy
DOE authorized PJM to dispatch specified plants and call on backup generators through Friday as elevated demand collides with heavy autumn generator maintenance and transmission outages. PJM requested the order Oct. 11 to reduce blackout risk.

REPUBLICANS JOIN THE FIGHT OVER TRUMP'S RUSSIAN DIESEL DEAL
Associated Press
Four Republican and two Democratic senators urged the administration to reverse Trump's plan to import 300,000 tons of Russian diesel, with Trump promising millions more tons to follow, arguing it conflicts with the 2022 ban on Russian energy purchases. House members are preparing bipartisan legislation to block the deal, while Treasury says the administration has legal authority to proceed.

CMP SUES MAINE TO PROTECT A TRANSMISSION PROFIT BOOST
Portland Press Herald
Central Maine Power and MEPCO sued to block a law designed to eliminate a federal return-on-equity bonus for voluntary grid membership. The extra half-point is worth $4.6 million to CMP this year, and the utilities say Maine is unlawfully intruding on federal transmission rates.

SOLAR MONEY TARGETS CONTROL OF GEORGIA'S UTILITY COMMISSION
Canary Media
A solar-industry PAC is spending $250,000 to support two Democrats who could flip the commission overseeing Georgia Power. The regulator approved a 10-GW gas-and-battery buildout for data-center demand last year, adding an estimated $20 a month to household bills.

Power & Grid

PENNSYLVANIA'S GAS FLEET COULD GROW 15% BY 2030
Axios Pittsburgh
An analysis of federal data projects Pennsylvania will add about 4.4 GW of gas-fired capacity by 2030 as data-center demand rises. Researchers count 70 operating data centers and 91 proposed facilities, while the state trails only Texas and Louisiana in planned gas additions.

WE ENERGIES FILES FOR ANOTHER 750 MW OF GAS
Wisconsin Public Radio
The utility filed an engineering plan for a combined-cycle plant at its Fox Energy site, Wisconsin's seventh gas proposal in roughly two years. State regulators expect electricity demand to rise 40% by 2032 as three large data-center projects drive load growth.

ANOTHER FIRE DESTROYS A LINE 5 DRILL RIG
Wisconsin Public Radio
Enbridge says a fire and graffiti damaged a horizontal drilling rig on its $1 billion Wisconsin reroute, the third recent fire and the second destroyed rig. No one was hurt, and the FBI and ATF are already investigating the two September incidents.

MINNESOTA OPENS A UTILITY AFFORDABILITY INVESTIGATION
MPR News
State regulators are examining how electric and gas bills affect households and what utilities, lawmakers and government should change. Residential arrears are about twice their pre-pandemic level, while disconnections have reached records in recent years.

XCEL OFFERS TWO YEARS WITHOUT A BASE-RATE HIKE
Bring Me The News
Xcel wants Minnesota regulators to let it hold electric base rates flat through 2028 while investing $4.5 billion. The utility would accelerate federal tax credits from five battery projects to offset costs, with $1.4 billion planned for distribution and $1 billion for transmission.

Data Centers

LOUDOUN'S DATA CENTER POWER LINE GETS THREE NEW ROUTES
Virginia Mercury
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam asked Virginia regulators to consider three alternatives for Dominion's Golden-to-Mars line after learning NOAA had not been formally consulted about one route. The approved path runs through neighborhoods and near schools as opponents appeal to the state Supreme Court.

DOVER BECOMES THE FIRST DELAWARE CITY TO PAUSE DATA CENTERS
Spotlight Delaware
The City Council unanimously imposed an 18-month pause on reviewing facilities above 30 MW while officials study whether and how to allow them. Developers have approached the city about more than one project, but none filed a formal application before the freeze.

FERC APPROVES DUKE'S LARGE-LOAD COST SHIELD
RTO Insider
Duke's new Carolinas rules require large-load customers to make nonrefundable payments for dedicated facilities and back broader network upgrades with deposits and security. Transmission customers serving those loads must cover at least 75% of planned demand for 15 years even if actual use falls short.

UTILITIES PUT PHANTOM DATA CENTERS ON THE HOOK
The Wall Street Journal
Utilities are demanding larger deposits, longer contracts and higher study fees to separate real data centers from speculative requests. Developers often seek power in several locations at once, inflating forecasts and leaving existing customers exposed if utilities build for projects that vanish.

DATA CENTER ATTACK ADS HIT $45 MILLION
CBS News
Campaigns have spent $45 million this year on ads mentioning data centers, mostly in opposition. Cleanview says Republican states hold 75% of projects under construction and 80% of the planned pipeline, forcing GOP candidates to choose between local resistance and Trump's AI buildout.

Stat of the Day

35 GW

Unused backup generation DOE says remains available nationwide
DOE has issued more than 10 emergency orders to PJM this year, several letting it tap backup generators at data centers and other large facilities.
U.S. Department of Energy ↗