The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shot down a deal Friday that would have allowed an Amazon data center in Pennsylvania to access additional power from an adjacent nuclear power plant.
The grid operator PJM Interconnection sought to increase the co-located load at Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear plant from 300 to 480 megawatts, enabling the data center to expand. In a 2-1 vote, FERC said PJM failed to prove that the amended interconnection agreement was necessary to meet “specific reliability concerns, novel legal issues, or other unique factors.”
Republican Commissioners Lindsay See and Mark Christie voted to reject the plan. Democratic Chair Willie Phillips dissented, while fellow Democratic Commissioners David Rosner and Judy Chang abstained.
In the order, Christie emphasized the risk of diverting power from the grid for such co-located projects.
