The Duck Curve#ferc
Google backs 890 MW of Constellation nuclear uprates at 11 PJM units
Google and Constellation Energy announced on October 6, 2026 a 20-year power purchase agreement backing uprates at 11 Constellation nuclear units in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey that Constellation says will add 890 MW to the PJM grid, the first by 2028, plus a 15-year agreement for 2,700 MW from its operating PJM fleet. Constellation calls it a direct response to PJM's bring-your-own-power proposal, which both companies have asked FERC to reject except its registry.
Interconnection queues and costs in the US
As of October 9, 2026, PJM's first reformed queue cycle is in study with 617 projects and its new fast track has accepted three, upgrade costs drove a Massachusetts battery out of ISO New England's queue, and FERC is weighing PJM and MISO data-center load rules.
FERC accepts PJM backstop procurement but suspends it to February 2027
FERC on September 29, 2026 accepted PJM's one-time Reliability Backstop Procurement for filing in docket ER26-3380-000 but suspended it for five months, to February 28, 2027, subject to refund, set a paper hearing on cost allocation, transmission-owner exit rules and load-serving-entity collateral, and opened a section 206 proceeding. It found the core design, from eligibility rules to the $555/MW-day average price cap, just and reasonable and encouraged a new section 205 filing. PJM says the procurement will not begin on September 30 as planned.
FERC denies Oklo complaint; 750-MW project stays out of PJM's Cycle 01
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied Oklo's complaint against PJM Interconnection on September 24, 2026, finding Oklo failed to show PJM violated its tariff when it withdrew Oklo's 750-MW nuclear, gas and fuel-cell project, which Utility Dive places in Virginia, from Cycle 01; the waiver request is moot. It reads section 403(B)(1) as one cure opportunity when PJM timely noticed deficiencies, concedes the five-cycle fault test is not in PJM's guidelines, and notes Oklo can cure the errors and refile for Cycle 02 or use the Expedited Interconnection Track, open to December 31, 2027.
Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act signed; FERC report within 180 days
The White House said the President signed H.R. 3657, the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act, into law on September 25, 2026; the Library of Congress record dates both 'Signed by President.' and 'Became Public Law No: 119-112.' to September 25, 2026. The act adds a section 37 to the Federal Power Act: within 180 days of enactment and annually after that, FERC reports to Congress on each pending new license, subsequent license for which sections 14 and 15 have been waived, and original license for which a notice of intent was given at least three years earlier, with six inclusions each.
Congress moved four energy bills in three days; one goes to the President
Between September 15 and 17, 2026, the House passed the High-Capacity Grid Act (H.R. 6633) and the Load Forecasting Enhancement Act (H.R. 9332) by voice vote and the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) by 417 to 3, and the Senate passed the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act (H.R. 3657) by unanimous consent without amendment; the bill status record shows that bill presented to the President on September 17 and the other three received in the Senate. Each orders a report, a rulemaking, study boards, or a state proceeding; none funds or builds anything.
Oklo tells FERC that PJM's fault test is not in PJM's own guidelines
Oklo's September 14, 2026 answer in FERC docket EL26-101-000 says its cure for the 750-MW project (150 MW nuclear, 300 MW gas, 300 MW fuel cells) passed the flat start test for the whole facility and the 9-cycle ride-through test for the inverter-based fuel cells, the only two stability tests it says PJM's guidelines contain, and calls PJM's explanation of the 5-cycle three-phase fault it ran a post hoc rationalization. PJM's answer says the cured model was unstable with all 750 MW in service. No FERC order was on the docket as of September 16.
PJM says Oklo's fix left the 750-MW model unstable, asks FERC to deny
PJM asked FERC on September 4, 2026 to deny Oklo's complaint over the withdrawal of its 750-MW project C01-1735 from Cycle 01. PJM says Oklo's response to a May 15 deficiency notice removed excitation-limiter models from the synchronous units and that the model showed an unstable response when PJM tested the whole facility at 750 MW; it says its tariff allows one cure round, that four other Oklo projects totaling 900 MW advanced, and that reinstatement could delay Phase I, set to start September 28, by as much as two months. It asks FERC to act by September 14 if it grants relief.
PJM proposes ride-through rules for data centers after 3,800 MW drop-off
PJM presented proposed voltage and frequency ride-through requirements for large computational loads, a category PJM says includes data centers and crypto-mining facilities, at its September 8, 2026 Planning Committee, after a July 22 fault in the Dominion zone that PJM's August 6 Operating Committee deck says sent approximately 3,800 MW of load onto backup power. PJM plans to file at FERC in November 2026 in docket EL26-67-000, where FERC faulted the tariff in June for specifying no ramp-rate or ride-through requirements and on August 14 paused the proceeding until November 16.
Virtual power plants in the US
As of October 6, 2026, US virtual power plants are growing through state programs and private capacity deals while FERC Order 2222 market access arrives operator by operator: live at CAISO since November 2024, due at ISO New England November 2026 and at MISO and SPP in 2030.
Oklo asks FERC to reinstate its 750-MW project in PJM's queue
Oklo filed an emergency complaint at FERC on August 28, 2026 (docket EL26-101-000) asking the commission to order PJM to reinstate a 750-MW mixed-technology generation project, combining advanced nuclear, natural gas, and fuel cells, that PJM withdrew from the first cycle of its reformed interconnection study. Oklo says the withdrawal was unlawful and would delay the project by at least 14 months; it wants PJM to answer by September 4, 2026.
FERC approves SPP plan to reroute power around grid congestion
FERC accepted Southwest Power Pool's economic topology optimization tariff on August 19, 2026 in docket ER26-2592, letting market participants and SPP propose reconfigurations of the transmission network to relieve congestion, effective October 1, 2026. Commissioner David Rosner's concurrence puts SPP's average congestion costs above $1.6 billion a year; MISO has run a similar process since 2023.
