Pennsylvania proposes cutting power to data centers first when the regional grid runs short
State utility regulators propose that utilities curtail large computing loads lacking their own new capacity before other customers in grid emergencies; comments are due 30 days after Bulletin publication.
Data center developers in Pennsylvania that have not brought new generating capacity for their full demand would be the first customers switched off when the regional grid runs short, under a proposal from state regulators. On October 1, 2026, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (the “PUC”) entered a Tentative Order, Electric Distribution Company Interim Resource Adequacy Service, Pre-Emergency and Emergency Response Provisions, Docket No. M-2026-3064961 (Pa. P.U.C. Oct. 1, 2026), proposing that electric distribution companies (“EDCs”), the utilities that deliver power to customers, revise their emergency load control procedures under 52 Pa. Code § 57.52 so that large computing loads are curtailed before other customers. The order is a proposal and is not in force; comments are due 30 days after its publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Tentative Order, Electric Distribution Company Interim Resource Adequacy Service, Pre-Emergency and Emergency Response Provisions, Docket No. M-2026-3064961 (Pa. P.U.C. Oct. 1, 2026); 52 Pa. Code § 57.52; 66 Pa.C.S. § 1505(b)