U.S. electricity demand is growing again, driven by large loads from things like cloud data centers and cryptocurrency miners. With the largest facilities over 1 gigawatt of load, states and utilities court these large loads to attract tax revenues and well-paying jobs. States like Virginia and Arizona are so successful at this courting process that they have become synonymous with data centers (at least in the circles I keep). Seeing their success, other states and utilities have rolled out special pricing structures - referred to as large load tariffs - to incentivize growth.

What's the problem?

Large load tariffs are not the trade-related tariffs that we hear about on the news (unless you read Power Magazine and RTO Insider). Rather, large load tariffs are specialized electricity rate structures that determine how much a customer pays for their electricity use, designed for customers whose power demand is significantly higher than that of typical residential, commercial, or small industrial users.* These tariffs are designed to allocate costs more equitably based on usage, ensure grid stability, and manage the financial risks associated with serving very large, often system-altering, loads — like those from data centers, industrial facilities, or other hyperscale users.*

Understandably, more load growth correlates with more of these large load tariffs:*

Common thresholds for categorizing "large load" customers vary by jurisdiction but typically range from 1 MW to 100 MW or higher:*

• Some states, like Louisiana, set a threshold at 1,000 kW (1 MW) for customer eligibility in certain demand response or interruptible load tariffs, with utilities needing more than 500 MW of combined commercial and industrial load to implement such tariffs.*
  
  
• Pennsylvania stakeholders have debated thresholds from 25 MW to over 100 MW, with a consensus emerging around a lower bound of at least 100 MW for a dedicated large load rate class, especially targeting data centers and similar users whose grid impacts are comparable to small cities.

The Solution: Halcyon's Large Load Tariff Tracker

Today, we’re excited to announce our second data product: Halcyon's Large Load Tariff Tracker (LLTT). LLTT allows users to quickly understand the varied large load tariff landscape across multiple key dimensions:

Why data center developers need LLTT: Data center providers have a simple task: namely find the lowest-cost place to bring data centers online. To illustrate their challenge, let's say an individual chip costs $40,000, has a 3-year shelf life, and consumes 1.2 kW of electricity per hour. With capital costs and electricity the main drivers, lower cost sites will have low electricity prices and lower state and local sales taxes. It’s incredibly complex to reach this relatively simple solution. 

Why utilities need LLTT: Utilities are increasingly competing for large load customers that bring substantial revenue and economic development, and the LLTT allows them to benchmark their tariff structures against peers to remain competitive while maintaining financial viability. The LLTT provides utilities with successful tariff structures and requirements that have gained regulatory approval elsewhere, helping them craft more defensible proposals during complex regulatory processes. Understanding the competitive landscape helps utilities better predict which large load customers they might attract or lose, enabling more informed decisions about transmission investments and grid capacity planning.

Policy analysts, consultants and economic development professionals need LLTT too! Policy analysts can use LLTT to track how different states are changing their rules to attract big electricity users. Economic development teams can see what other states are offering and make better deals to bring data centers and factories to their regions. Consultants who work with both utilities and developers get a clear picture of what's happening across the market — they can spot trends, compare different deals, and find opportunities where demand doesn't match supply. Since states increasingly see these large customers as job creators and tax revenue sources, LLTT gives everyone access to the same information that used to cost (multiple) thousands of dollars.

All of these cohorts are actively evaluating opportunities across multiple utilities and states, comparing not just electricity rates but also regulatory timelines, contract terms, and grid reliability. This creates a dynamic marketplace where both utilities and developers need comprehensive intelligence to make informed decisions — just look at how much incremental cost is represented by the chips themselves!

Large load tariffs are shaping how utilities will serve the next generation of high-demand customers, from AI data centers to industrial facilities. Until now, navigating this complex landscape required hours of manual research across dozens of regulatory dockets and utility websites. The Large Load Tariff Tracker simplifies this process by giving users the tools to decode the power pricing landscape, providing the competitive intelligence needed to succeed in this rapidly evolving market. Whether you're a developer seeking the most favorable terms or a utility benchmarking your offerings, the LLTT transforms weeks of research into minutes of analysis.

If this sounds useful, please reach out for sample data from the Large Load Tariff Tracker and pricing information. 

*Content sourced from Halcyon

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