NERC advances grid reliability standards for large loads
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) approved proposed registration rules for large computational loads, including data centers, at its October 8 Board meeting in Toronto.
The changes establish Computational Load Owner and Computational Load Operator categories and associated criteria. NERC also authorized an expedited data request to support registration, subject to regulatory approval.
“These data centers, among other large loads, present unique challenges in bulk power system planning and operations,” said Jim Robb, NERC president and CEO.
The Board adopted proposed revisions to FAC-011-5, TOP-003-9 and TPL-001-6, strengthening inverter-based resource (IBR) modeling, operating limits, system visibility and transmission planning.
It also adopted Canadian-specific cold-weather preparedness revisions and frequency-response procedure changes.
Updates addressed electricity-natural gas coordination and reliability assessments, alongside continued US-Canada collaboration on interconnected grid risks.
Source: NERC
