Rules, permitting, and interconnection

AI infrastructure policy news on interconnection, tariffs, and permitting

FERC, NERC, PUCs, permitting, transmission, rate design, and large-load rules shaping where AI infrastructure can actually get built.

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5 stories

Policy

PolicyJune 25, 20265 min read

Ocasio-Cortez’s House Bill Turns the AI Data Center Moratorium Act Into a Federal Siting-Risk

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s June 24, 2026 House introduction clears the bar because it gives the AI Data Center Moratorium Act a fresh federal hook after the March Senate rollout. The stronger angle is not another abstract AI-doom debate. It is that a proposal to halt new data center construction and expansion now creates a national siting and financing overhang that operators, investors, and power planners cannot ignore.

By Nawaz Lalani

Federal siting risk

Policy

Editorial graphic showing Oklahoma House Bill 2992, a 75 megawatt large-load threshold, and a ringfence around grid connection and generation costs for data center customers

PolicyJune 24, 20265 min read

Oklahoma’s Data Center Ratepayer Law Turns Large-Load Policy Into a Utility Contract Model

OG&E’s June 18 large-load tariff filing gives Oklahoma a sharper AI-power signal than another abstract ratepayer debate. The stronger angle is that the state is turning data-center politics into an operating model: threshold-based contracts, upfront connection payments, long commitments, and a defined mechanism for shielding households if large loads impose system costs.

By Nawaz Lalani

Tariff model

Policy

Editorial graphic showing advanced AI standards flowing through conformity assessments, reusable evidence, regulators, and enterprise procurement decisions

PolicyJune 24, 20264 min read

OpenAI’s Appia Push Turns AI Standards Into a Conformity-and-Procurement Layer

OpenAI’s June 23 Appia announcement clears the bar because it is more than another AI-governance statement. The stronger angle is that advanced-AI standards are being translated into modular conformity checks and reusable evidence that could shape procurement, audits, and cross-border regulation.

By Nawaz Lalani

Trust infrastructure

Policy

Editorial graphic showing six regional grid operators, transmission pathways, and large-load tariff reform for data centers

PolicyJune 22, 20264 min read

FERC’s June 18 Show-Cause Orders Turn AI Power Into a National Tariff Rewrite

FERC’s June 18, 2026 action matters because large-load policy is no longer a PJM-only fight. The commission just told all six major U.S. grid operators to justify or rewrite the tariff rules that will govern how data centers, manufacturers, and other giant loads get access to power.

By Nawaz Lalani

National tariff reset

Policy

Large electrical substation with transmission lines and utility equipment

PolicyMay 14, 20267 min read

Who Pays for AI Data Center Grid Upgrades?

AI data centers are turning a quiet utility-planning question into a public policy fight: when a massive new load needs substations, transmission, transformers, and reliability work, should the developer pay, should all customers share the cost, or should regulators create a new large-load tariff before the bill lands on households?

By Nawaz Lalani

Policy analysis

Related paths

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