NERC Committee Approves Data Center Ride-Through Project, RTO Insider Says

The July 2024 event produced a measurable frequency deviation, a change in area control error and a localized overvoltage, according to the SAR. Texas shows a similar risk: ERCOT analyzed 28 events of 100 MW or more between January 2023 and April 2026, involving crypto mining sites, and said losing 3,200 MW at once under some conditions could force it to lower operating limits on transmission interfaces. AEP logged five data center events of 123 MW to 428 MW between February and October 2025.

Behavior is also inconsistent. One site shed about 20% of its load at a minimum voltage of 0.7205 per unit in one event and all of it at a shallower 0.7538 per unit in another, so NERC says planners cannot predict what a credible fault will remove. The existing ride-through standards cover generators and inverter-based resources, not load.

What the draft request proposes

The Standard Authorization Request (SAR) in the agenda package lists voltage ride-through, frequency ride-through, rate-of-change-of-frequency withstand, post-fault active power recovery and limits on current draw during disturbances. Its tables are starting points for the drafting team, not requirements. For voltage, sites would run continuously between 0.90 and 1.15 per unit and ride through 0.50 to 0.80 per unit for 0.50 seconds, and a site may cut active power in proportion to the voltage drop. For recovery, the Large Loads Working Group recommends at least 90% of pre-disturbance consumption within 2 seconds, adjustable if studies justify it.

Cooling and mechanical load are an open issue, and the SAR asks the team to define how they are treated. It also calls for separate dates for new and existing sites, noting that every documented event so far involved sites already operating.

What is not confirmed yet

RTO Insider's full article is paywalled, so the committee's exact action rests on its summary and on the agenda package, where NERC staff recommended accepting the SAR, a 30-day comment period, a 23-day search for more drafting team members and a high-priority rating. The SAR text could change after comment. A supporting white paper is projected for December 2026, and the separate Project 2026-02 standards face a Dec 31, 2026 filing deadline at FERC. Voltgrid News also covered FERC's PJM load registry decision.