What did MISO file?
MISO is the organization that runs the high voltage grid and the wholesale power market in 15 states, from Louisiana to Minnesota. On October 2, 2026, it asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve a faster review for very large new power customers and the new power plants built to serve them. Utility Dive That commission, called FERC, is the federal agency that must approve changes to MISO’s rules before they take effect.
MISO calls the new review the Large Load Addition Resource Study, and it would take 120 days. A large load is one customer that draws a huge amount of power, such as an AI data center or a factory. Connecting a customer or a power plant to the grid is called interconnection. Today MISO studies new customers and new power plants in separate processes. FERC show cause order The new review would study the customer and its generator side by side, so the grid upgrades chosen fit both of them. Yahoo News
What a project would have to show
The customer must need more than 200 megawatts. A megawatt measures how much power something uses at one moment. The generator must be located in the same local resource zone as the customer. MISO has 10 of these planning zones, and they mostly follow state lines. Utility Dive
Both pieces must be running within three years of the application date. The customer may start taking power in phases. By the time the generator begins operating, the customer must be taking the full amount of service it asked for. In some cases more than one generator may serve one customer. The generator and the customer must stay paired for at least 15 years. Yahoo News
MISO would study up to 10 applications in each study period, with three periods a year. Applicants would pay deposits that are not returned, which MISO says is meant to screen out projects that are not real. MISO also says the review would apply the same technical standards as its other processes. Projects already waiting in its regular generator line would not be affected. Utility Dive
| Item | Under current MISO rules | Under the proposal |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets a fast study | Generators only, through a temporary 90 day process | Customers over 200 megawatts paired with new generators |
| How customer and generator are studied | In separate processes | Side by side in one 120 day review |
| How many fast studies | The temporary generator process stops at 68 projects | Up to 10 per study period, three periods a year |
| Deadline to start running | Three to six years for the temporary generator process | Three years from the application for both pieces |
| How long the pair stays together | No minimum pairing period | At least 15 years |
The temporary generator process is MISO’s Expedited Resource Addition Study, which closes on August 31, 2027. MISO news release
Why MISO is filing now
On June 18, 2026, FERC opened an investigation into MISO’s rules for large loads. It found, as a first view, that MISO’s rules appear unjust and unreasonable. One reason was that MISO has no study process for a generator that limits its output to match a large customer close by on the grid. FERC treated a customer as close by when it is, for example, no more than two substations from the generator. FERC show cause order
FERC told MISO it could fix these gaps with its own proposals. MISO says the new review is partly its answer to that finding. MISO also told FERC it expects its total demand to grow by 1% to 3% a year through 2044. Utility Dive
What FERC has to decide
FERC must find that the proposal is just and reasonable and does not unfairly favor some projects over others. It has rejected an expedited MISO process before. In May 2025 FERC rejected the first version of the temporary generator process. One commissioner explained that it set no practical limit on how many projects could enter, so the expedited process could become as backlogged as the regular queue. FERC commissioner statement The new proposal sets a cap of 10 applications per study period.
MISO has asked FERC to rule by December 2, 2026. It wants to open the first study period early in 2027. Wisevoter None of the requirements above applies to anyone until FERC accepts the proposal.
Tomorrow’s topic
Duke Energy’s North Carolina large load tariff settlement.