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February 27, 2026
RTO Insider
SPP Secures 2 More Commitments for Markets+ in Washington
Grant County PUD's Wanapum Dam
Grant County PUD

SPP has secured two new commitments for its day-ahead Markets+, as Grant County Public Utility District and Tacoma Power in Washington state announced their intent to join.

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MISO CEO John Bear (left) and SPP CEO Lanny Nickell
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MISO, SPP CEOs Bet on Improved Interconnection Processes for AI Load
MISO’s and SPP’s CEOs are confident their interconnection queues will be up to the task of meeting new data center load once their respective special expedited lanes wind down.
RTO Insider
Construction is shown in progress on the Meta data Center in Los Lunas, N.M.
Meta
EPRI Boosts Data Center Load Growth Projection by 60%
“Powering Intelligence 2026” estimates data centers could consume as much as 17% of U.S. electricity by 2030.
ERO Insider
A chart of 10-year summer and winter peak demand growth and rate trends in MRO shows that over the past six years of projections, winter peak demand growth has outpaced summer demand growth, indicating a shift to higher energy usage during winter months.
MRO
Energy Availability Tops MRO’s 2026 Risk List
MRO's Regional Risk Assessment found uncertain energy availability to be the highest priority risk for the third year in a row.
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N.J. Considering Use of RGGI Funds to Curb Rate Hikes
New Jersey is studying whether to use funds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to keep down electricity rates and restructure the way utilities are compensated in an effort to reduce the pressure on electricity prices.
RTO Insider
IURC Chair Andy Zay during the Feb. 25 press conference announcing the inquiry
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
Indiana Commission Opens Affordability Inquiry into Utilities
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission opened an investigative inquiry into the state’s major utilities in response to increasingly steep residential electric and gas bills.
Municipal Utility Would Cost City of Tucson $4B, Study Finds
As Tucson, Ariz., weighs whether to take over part of Tucson Electric Power's electric system to form a municipal utility, a new study said such a move would cost the city more than $4 billion.
Judge Orders Spill at Northwest Dams to Aid Salmon, Despite Energy Concerns
An Oregon federal judge ordered increased spill levels at eight dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in order to protect endangered salmon species, rejecting claims that doing so would impede power generation.
ERO Insider
Southern Co. CEO Chris Womack (left) and Energy Secretary Chris Wright
DOE
DOE Loans $26.5B to Southern Co. for Infrastructure Upgrades
Southern Co. will receive $26.5 billion in loans to support generation and transmission upgrades.
FERC Declines to Suggest Interregional Transmission Requirements
FERC declined to suggest any minimum interregional transfer capability requirements in a report to Congress.
Police, FBI Seeking Motive in Nevada Grid Attack
Police and FBI investigators are trying to determine the motivation of a man who died during an apparent attempt to damage an electric substation in Nevada.
NetZero Insider
Electricity generation resources by year under the model
CEC
Solar and Wind Dominate California’s Energy Future, CEC Model Shows
Solar and wind resources could generate up to 85% of California’s electricity by 2045, according to a report being drafted by the energy commission.
Dominion Reports $3B in 2025 Earnings, Progress on CVOW Despite Delay
Dominion Energy updated analysts on its efforts to complete a major offshore wind project and to meet rising demand from data centers on its fourth-quarter earnings call.
Record 86 GW of Generation Additions Projected in 2026
The EIA released a report that said a record 86 GW of utility-scale capacity is projected to be added to the grid in 2026, which if true, would far outpace the 53 GW of capacity added in 2025.
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Aurora modeled the benefits to Arizona utilities of joining EDAM or Markets+ based on this projected market footprint.
Aurora Energy Research
APS Would See Greater Savings in EDAM, Analysis Finds
Arizona Public Service would save $110 million/year by joining CAISO's Extended Day-Ahead Market rather than SPP's Markets+, a new analysis found.
Nonprofits Tell 9th Circuit BPA’s DAM Decision Poses ‘Imminent’ Harm
The consequences of the Bonneville Power Administration’s decision to join SPP’s Markets+ could hit the Northwest sooner rather than later even though the agency has yet to formally join the market, a group of nonprofits suing it over the choice told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Stakeholders Urge Changes to ISO-NE Surplus Interconnection Rules
Clean energy groups are calling for changes to ISO-NE’s surplus interconnection service rules to use capacity headroom and help some resources avoid lengthy cluster study processes.
La. Energy Leads Say Determined Approach Lands Data Center Contracts
Louisiana utility players described their pull-out-all-the-stops, gas-propelled campaign to attract data centers as another hyperscaler announced plans for a new artificial intelligence-training facility in the state.
FERC Commissioner David LaCerte gives testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during his confirmation hearing for a full five-year term.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
LaCerte: FERC Focused on Winning AI Race
FERC Commissioner David LaCerte was back before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, just four months after being sworn in, for a hearing on his nomination for a full five-year term.
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CAISO Unveils Principles for Western Seams Coordination
CAISO released a set of guiding principles for upcoming discussions about seams between the ISO, SPP and other entities as the Extended Day-Ahead Market nears its opening in May.
ERO Insider
The ransomware attack that infiltrated Colonial Pipeline in 2021 is a cautionary tale. Operators were forced to pull the plug on the physical infrastructure to prevent the infection from spreading.
Colonial Pipeline
The Co-location Quandary: The Cybersecurity Risk to Nuclear
Opinion writer Shahid Mahdi worries about the cybersecurity risks of co-location, and asks if a co-located data center is hit with ransomware, does the nuclear plant have to trip offline?
Colorado Bill Addresses Impacts of Coal Plant Extensions
A bill in the Colorado legislature seeks to reduce the environmental impact of federal orders delaying the retirement of coal-fired power plants.
FERC Approves Latest IBR Standards
FERC accepted five new reliability standards setting requirements for model validation and data sharing for inverter-based resources.
Members Seek Clarity on NERC Standard Committee’s Future
Standards Committee members asked for details on the committee's future after NERC's Board of Trustees approved sweeping changes to the standards development process.
An image showing one of the attack paths used by the newly identified cyber threat group Azurite
Dragos
Dragos: Cyber Threats Rose Worldwide in 2025
The cybersecurity firm Dragos identified three new attack groups in its Year in Review report, while also sharing more concerns about a December cyberattack against Poland's electric grid.
Attendees at NERC's quarterly technical session in Savannah, Ga.
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NERC Staff Outline Growing LTRA Challenges
NERC staff acknowledged recent criticisms of the 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment while describing the challenges of performing the analysis in recent years.
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Oregon’s Offshore Wind Road Map Acknowledges Uncertainty
Oregon released a draft road map to provide state lawmakers with recommendations on how to proceed with offshore wind endeavors, while acknowledging the uncertainty the industry faces.
EPA Repeals 2024 MATS Updates for Coal Plants
EPA revoked its 2024 updates to the MATS rules, which included regulation of non-mercury emissions and monitoring equipment requirements for all covered power plants.
Colo. PUC Approves 3.2-GW PSCo Resource Package
Colorado regulators approved 3.2 GW of new resources requested by Public Service Company of Colorado under an expedited approval process designed to take advantage of soon-expiring federal tax credits.
California, 12 Other States Sue Trump Admin. Over Energy Grant Terminations
Thirteen blue states are suing the Trump administration for reversing Biden administration funding commitments worth $7.6 billion for energy and infrastructure projects.
The four years of growth in the actual and projected power consumption by U.S. data centers are shown.
BloombergNEF
Report Touts U.S. Sustainable Energy Despite Volatile Policies
The annual status report from the Business Council for Sustainable Energy finds sustainable energy met rising U.S. power demands in 2025 despite the far-reaching policy shifts roiling the sector.
Estimated 2050 annualized costs of Massachusetts peaking portfolios
Massachusetts Clean Peak Coalition
Mass. Nonprofits Outline Road Map for Peak Demand Decarbonization
Massachusetts could decarbonize its peaking power portfolio by 2050 through aggressive deployment of wind, batteries and demand flexibility, according to a new analysis by a group of environmental nonprofits.