FERC Staff Cites 224 GW Peak Demand Growth at NRC-FERC Meeting

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission hosted Federal Energy Regulatory Commission commissioners on Thursday, Oct 22, at its Rockville, Maryland, headquarters. FERC staff told the joint meeting that summer peak demand is forecast to grow by 224 GW over 10 years, with data centers driving most of it, according to ANS Nuclear Newswire.

FERC's Deepak Ramlatchan, deputy director of its Office of Electric Reliability, summarized the latest long-term assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), published in February. He said the 224 GW rise is almost 70 percent above the previous long-term forecast. In response, FERC is looking at reforms to transmission service for large loads, including loads built next to or near new generation.

For data-center developers, the meeting matters for two timelines: how fast a plant can connect and how fast a closed reactor can return. Ramlatchan said the generator interconnection process can now be completed in 375 days in the best case, and that even the worst case, roughly two years or more, is better than the earlier system. Both are open questions for any campus that plans to pair with new or restarted generation.

How Nuclear Restarts Use Transferred Interconnection Rights

Ramlatchan spent time on transferring capacity interconnection rights, a route that lets a project skip much of the interconnection study process and avoid network upgrades. ANS reported that all three ongoing restarts of decommissioned nuclear plants use the approach in some form. Duane Arnold in Iowa is using rights transferred from a solar plant. This summer FERC approved a request to move interconnection rights from a gas-and-oil plant to Crane in Pennsylvania, and at Palisades in Michigan FERC eased deadlines that would otherwise have pushed the plant into a heavier interconnection path.

"FERC has worked to remove barriers to new capacity," Ramlatchan said, citing tariff waivers that let nuclear generation return to commercial operation. The approach works only where a grid connection already exists at the site. For earlier FERC action on large loads, see Voltgrid's report on the PJM load registry ruling.

What NRC Staff and Commissioners Told FERC

NRC staff briefed the FERC commissioners on the agency's reorganization, Executive Order 14300, changes to power reactor programs and efforts to streamline reviews of new and advanced reactors, per ANS. FERC Chair Laura Swett said she was impressed with the efficiencies the NRC had found, and Commissioner David Rosner said he was interested in the small reactor designs in development. Commissioner David LaCerte said that when a restart order reaches FERC, the question is whether to restart an asset or keep it mothballed, and that the NRC's work makes the answer easy.

NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said the United States urgently needs more energy and cannot get it without FERC's leadership. Swett called nuclear and natural gas the "two Hail Marys" for the country's energy concerns.

What Is Not Confirmed From the NRC-FERC Meeting

ANS did not report any formal decision, rule or commitment from the meeting, and Voltgrid found no minutes or transcript. The 224 GW figure is a NERC forecast relayed by FERC staff, not a measured load. Restart dates for Duane Arnold, Crane and Palisades were not given in the report, and FERC has not published the large-load transmission reforms it said it is studying.

Voltgrid News reported earlier on NERC's data-center ride-through project.