David LaCerte, a new Republican member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, urged regulators Thursday to keep rising residential electricity costs in mind as the agency faces increased pressure from the Trump administration to cut red tape and connect more AI industry data centers to the electric grid.
“I know that Americans are fearful of higher energy costs due to data center construction and the costs of additional transmission infrastructure. It’s our duty as commissioners to fully protect these people from undue costs.”
“We can do both,” LaCerte continued. “We must do both.”
Utilities are preparing for rising demand tied to the growth of artificial intelligence. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has requested that FERC draft a rule directing regional transmission grids to expedite connections for “large loads” that would include big power plants and computing centers for AI.
For much of this year, regulators and grid operators have wrangled over how to control costs and ensure electric reliability as they build a policy around bringing more energy-intensive data centers onto the grid. No policy has made it into rule form at FERC.
Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), chair and ranking members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a joint letter to FERC supporting Wright’s effort to have FERC assert federal authority over large interconnection policy. They also urged the commission to protect existing utility customers from higher costs and respect state authority.
“In addition to our core mission of keeping the lights on for all Americans at reasonable costs, my priority as chairman is to ensure that our country can connect and power data centers as quickly and as durably as possible,” FERC Chair Laura Swett said.
Swett did not say whether FERC planned to act by April, as Wright requested. She and Democratic Commissioners David Rosner and Judy Chang said FERC can work closely with state regulators who are wary that the proposal threatens their jurisdiction over retail electricity.
Electricity costs are also tied to the availability of natural gas. In a report this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said gas prices are set to average $4 per million British thermal units in 2026 — a jump from the estimated average of $3.50 for 2025 — “primarily due to increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports amid flat production growth.”
Following a presentation on a winter energy market and reliability analysis, LaCerte asked Eric Primosch, a market analyst at FERC, whether more pipelines could help lower natural gas prices.
“Yes, additional pipeline infrastructure between production areas and demand areas could help reduce price differences between those regions, potentially resulting in lower prices for market area end users,” Primosch said.
Blanket authorizations
FERC commissioners on Thursday voted to solicit information from the public on potential “blanket” certificates for certain activities at liquefied natural gas and hydroelectric projects.
“We’re finding ways to simplify and optimize permitting to instill confidence in the promise of building for our future,” Swett said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what is filed on those dockets.”
In the notice for LNG facilities, FERC said for interstate gas pipelines, those lines “may apply for a one-time blanket certificate” to undertake certain routine activities.
However, while certain variances are allowed during the construction of an LNG terminal, changes to an operating terminal “may currently require case-specific authorization,” FERC said in the notice, adding a case-by-case review process “may be administratively inefficient.”
The notice is to consider whether and how to revise regulations “to establish procedures for authorizing certain activities at LNG plants without a case-specific authorization order, to provide regulatory certainty and significantly streamline liquefied natural gas infrastructure permitting.”
It’s been a priority for Commissioner Lindsay See, a Republican.
Comments on the two notices of inquiry are due 60 days after their publication in the Federal Register, FERC said in a news release.
An LNG trade group already cheered the notice for LNG.
“Today’s NOI reflects the reality that LNG facilities operate under mature engineering, safety and environmental standards, and that many routine modifications do not require case-specific orders,” said Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for LNG, in a statement.
