As of October 27, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected a large load tariff that was proposed by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association because it intruded on retail rate regulation which falls under state jurisdiction. [1] The August 28 proposal came about because utilities like AEP Ohio and Dominion Energy Virginia have adopted tariffs that set out terms and conditions for interconnecting data centers and other large loads. Tri-State, with over 40 utility members, stated that there is growing interest in building data centers in the Mountain West region. The cooperative stated that its proposed High Impact Load (HIL) tariff and HIL agreement would protect its utility members from various risks associated with large loads, including the potential need for additional transmission and generation, as well as cost-shifting to ratepayers. The Data Center Coalition opposed the proposal suggesting that the cooperative failed to show that it was within FERC’s jurisdiction. It also asserted that the emerging large load tariffs per utility was stifling data center development. In a 3-0 ruling, FERC dismissed Tri-State’s claims that since the proposed HIL program is similar to its agency-approved demand response program, program should be considered as falling under FERC’s authority.
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