The Shortcut That Built Its Own Wall

In October, Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to speed up grid connections for large loads — a direct order to clear the path for AI data centers. ^[1] Former FERC Chairman Mark Christie objected in the strongest terms.

an unprecedented expansion of federal control and intrusion on the states' historic retail regulatory authority — Mark C. Christie

That was the noise. The signal came months later, when FERC did move — not to waive anything, but to order six grid operators to make data centers pay the full cost of the grid upgrades they trigger. ^[2] FERC's stated concern was narrower than any grand strategy.

We are setting the stage for a resilient, reliable and forward-thinking grid that empowers communities and safeguards consumers by transforming the way large energy users access the grid. — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

The shortcut tried to remove a barrier; the institution replaced it with a harder one. The EPA answered the same kind of direct override the same way. Developers filed more than 500 applications for national-security exemptions from Clean Air Act rules; the agency approved roughly a third. ^[3] Then it wrote a pre-permit construction rule that lets data centers pour foundations before their air permit clears — while leaving the final permit decision exactly where it was. ^[4] Those two were answering the shortcut itself. The rest of the system was answering what the shortcut accelerates: the physical load of data centers arriving faster than the grid can absorb them. The mechanism differs; the result is the same. PJM, the largest grid operator, filed a proposal making data centers that don't bring their own generation the first to lose power in a shortage. ^[5] MISO filed a framework creating a new category for computational loads over 50 megawatts, with monitoring and ride-through requirements. ^[6] Oklahoma passed a unanimous, bipartisan law requiring 75-megawatt-plus facilities to fund their own power plants and substations; Wisconsin required full cost recovery; Oregon added a surcharge. ^[7] The industry isn't fighting any of this. It's complying — by leaving the grid. BloombergNEF puts on-site gas generation at $21.5 to $43.2 per megawatt-hour, against a forecast 2027 industrial electricity price of $88.6. ^[8] The rules raise the cost of plugging in at the same moment generating your own power became cheaper than buying it. Off-grid stops being a bridge and becomes the economics. The asymmetry is what matters. An executive order vanishes with a signature. A FERC tariff order has to be reopened in a new proceeding. A state law needs a legislature to repeal it. A grid-operator framework needs a filed revision. The shortcut was fast and reversible; the response is slow and durable. Whatever the next administration does, the rules will still be there.