WS2. Transformational Utility Programs

Workstream 2 (WS2) focuses on the development of a framework for wholesale markets and retail programs to facilitate data center demand flexibility, gaining insights into data center perceptions, preferences, economic and risk considerations, and tolerances for demand flexibility, and specifying tools to enable greater demand flexibility of data centers. Additionally, this workstream focuses on assessing and exploring regulatory constructs and policy models to support data center demand flexibility.

The business impact of these efforts includes providing guidelines for more effective demand flexibility programs and tariffs with data centers, increasing utility operational confidence in data center demand flexibility as a resource for grid services through greater predictive accuracy, and enhancing engagement between data centers, utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders.

Interactive Summary of Flexible Retail Programs and Wholesale Markets

Workstream Deliverables

Co-locating Large Loads and Generating Facilities: Exploring Operations, Planning, and Allocation under Co-located Configurations: Summary of the FERC Technical Conference on Large Loads Co-located at Generating Facilities

This brief summarizes key discussions from a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-hosted technical conference held November 1, 2024, to address the growing interest in co-locating large loads at generating facilities and the associated challenges including market integration. This Commissioner-led conference brought together leading industry experts, including representatives from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), market monitors, utilities, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), transmission providers, state representatives, and independent consultants. This brief describes configurations of large loads co-located at generating facilities, identifies associated challenges, and highlights critical gaps to ensure fair, equitable, and reliable integration of large loads into the wholesale electricity markets.