The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected an amended interconnection service agreement proposing to increase the load capacity of Amazon’s data centre at the Susquehanna nuclear facility in Pennsylvania.
The amended agreement was executed between Talen Energy, PJM Interconnection and PPL Electric Utilities, and aimed to increase capacity at Susquehanna from 300MW to 480MW.
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FERC was concerned with the agreement’s potential impact on the public, as increased capacity for the data centre could lead to higher power bills and affect the grid’s reliability.
The regulatory body pointed out that diverting large amounts of power from the regional grid could result in a loss of supply, impacting electricity costs and grid stability.
The financial responsibility for necessary transmission and distribution upgrades remained unresolved.
FERC commissioner Mark Christie stated: “Co-location arrangements of the type presented here present an array of complicated, nuanced and multifaceted issues, which collectively could have huge ramifications for both grid reliability and consumer costs.
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By GlobalData“Indeed, this commission has already acknowledged the importance and complexities of these issues, which is why we held a technical conference to explore them.”
Talen Energy responded: “The decision will have a chilling effect on economic development in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey.”
In May 2024, US-based utility company CPS Energy completed the acquisition of three natural gas plants in Texas from Talen for $785m.
The acquisition encompassed a total capacity of 1.7GW and comprised the 897MW Barney Davis and 635MW Nueces Bay natural gas generation plants located in Corpus Christi and a 178MW facility in Laredo.
