Two large data center developers are contesting their electric utilities at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over the contracts that govern how transmission infrastructure gets built and paid for.
In an August 21 filing, Microsoft told FERC that four amended Large Load Project Commitment Agreements and a Minimum Transmission Charge Agreement submitted by American Transmission Company contain errors, contradictions, and inconsistencies, and that they fail to protect utility customers from the cost of infrastructure serving the company's data center expansion in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. Microsoft said the agreements were negotiated with affiliated Wisconsin Electric Power Company without its input, that the minimum transmission charge lacks a mechanism preventing retail customers from absorbing facility costs, that large load customers could end up paying twice, and that a proposed early termination fee would produce a windfall. The company asked FERC to convene settlement judge proceedings.
Microsoft, a signatory to the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge, said it is committed to paying infrastructure costs tied to its own data centers. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission told FERC the agreements improve on past practice while remaining far from fully responsive to its show cause order to MISO.
Separately, PowerHouse Hillwood Holding asked FERC on August 14 to reject Commonwealth Edison's notice canceling a transmission security agreement tied to a 1.8 gigawatt, 20 billion dollar data center planned in Joliet, Illinois. The dispute centers on the timing of a security deposit and has produced a lawsuit. The filings follow FERC's mid-June finding that grid operator rules for interconnecting large loads may be inadequate, with response deadlines extended to mid-November.
Source: Utility Dive - https://www.utilitydive.com/news/microsoft-powerhouse-hillwood-data-center-service-ferc/828566/