MISO proposes new reliability rules targeting data centers and large power consumers

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, better known as MISO, filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on August 28 that would impose new interconnection reliability requirements on large electricity consumers. The primary target: data centers powering the AI boom that are gobbling up power at a pace the grid wasn’t designed to handle. MISO operates the second-largest electrical grid in the US, spanning 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. What the new rules actually require The proposal defines “large loads” as facilities drawing more than 50 MW at a single location and connecting at voltages above 69 kV. For context, 50 MW is roughly enough to power 40,000 homes. A single hyperscale data center can consume several times that amount. Computational loads, a category that covers data centers specifically, face even tighter scrutiny. Any facility with at least 25 MW of demand from IT equipment would need to meet additional requirements around advanced modeling, frequency ride-through capabilities, and voltage ride-through performance. The framework covers four main areas. First, visibility requirements that force large consumers to share operat...