Stakeholders at the North American Electric Reliability Corp. have approved proposed reliability standards for AI data centers, crypto mining facilities, and other large computational loads, moving them closer to final adoption. The rules still need a vote by NERC's Board of Trustees and, if adopted, would be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for final approval.
Developed under NERC Project 2026-02, the standards follow a Level 3 alert NERC issued in May after data centers unexpectedly dropped load or rapidly oscillated demand, threatening regional grid stability. As written, they would apply to computational loads of at least 50 MW connected at voltage levels of at least 100 kV, with requirements around interconnection studies, modeling data and verification, operational data and communications, and load protection coordination and disturbance monitoring.
The standards are designed to give transmission operators, balancing authorities, and reliability coordinators the site data and predefined communication protocols needed to plan, monitor, and assess reliable operation of the bulk power system. NERC's board is expected to consider the standards in the fourth quarter, and final federal approval would still be required before they take effect.