What's Happening in Energy highlights the most interesting findings from public utility commission filings.

Hey there, it's Nat.

This week:

• Chips vs. Yogurt in the Mountain West,
• A table showing how much each RTO zone must procure in PJM’s upcoming Reliability Backstop Procurement,
• An “ANSWER IN OPPOSITION AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO ANSWER AND ANSWER” from CAISO rejecting cost responsibility for maintaining the availability of coal units at the FERC,
• A new large load tariff working group in the Southwest,
• Charts galore from an ongoing rate case in the Midwest,
• And much more.
  

And away we go…

What's Happening in Energy — Aug 14
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Chips vs. Yogurt // Micron // Chobani // Idaho Power

An epic chips (ok technically memory/storage) vs. yogurt showdown is unfolding in the West. Memory manufacturer Micron filed to intervene in the proceeding concerning Idaho Power’s application for approval of its Electric Services Agreement with Chobani (that Chobani, the yogurt company). One justification Micron offered: “as a Special Contract customer, Micron has an interest in the Commission’s decisions regarding ESAs in general as such decisions could be applied in the future across other Idaho Power ESAs.”

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Large Load Tariff Working Group // New Mexico

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission ordered the creation of a Large Load Tariff Working Group composed of investor-owned utility representatives, Commission staff, and other stakeholders. The group will meet, confer, and file a report by September 11th advising the Commission on best practices regarding “minimum tariff terms” and next steps. In the world of electric utility working groups, that’s lightning speed.

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Demand Response vs. Large Load Growth // Citizen’s Utility Board Testimony // Wisconsin

Among the onslaught of testimonies and exhibits filed in Wisconsin Electric Power Company’s (WEPCO) rate case before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, Jeff Adams of the Citizen’s Utility Board made the case for moving demand response from a “contingency” tool to a more comprehensive resource.

“Wisconsin faces significant load growth which is projected to be nearly 5.8 gigawatts by 2030, a 40 percent increase from 2026 (see figure 1-1 below). Demand response should be elevated from contingency-only to an important near-term resource as it could help moderate future capacity needs if programs are expanded, modernized, and more fully integrated into utility planning and operations.”

Here’s that figure 1-1 from the PSC’s Draft Strategic Energy Assessment for 2026-2032, which Adams attached as an exhibit. According to Adams, out of the 5.8 GW in growth from 2026 to 2032, approximately 4.17 GW come from just three data centers: Port Washington (Vantage), Mount Pleasant (Microsoft), and Beaver Dam (Meta).

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Capital Advances for Large Loads // Google // PG&E // California

The California Public Utilities Commission filed a draft resolution that would facilitate the interconnection of a 250 MW Google data center to PG&E’s network in San Jose. The resolution, if approved, would mandate Google to provide an additional $600,000 per MW capital advance the year before any requisite transmission upgrades go into service. The resolution is intended to move this project along while the broader proceeding over PG&E’s large load tariff (Rule 30) remains unresolved.

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Calpine Solutions // 2026 IRP // LSE for C&I Customers // California

Calpine Solutions, a Calpine/Constellation subsidiary, submitted its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan to the California Public Utilities Commission. Calpine Solutions only serves commercial and industrial customers, and here is a redacted up-and-to-the-right chart of its projected future capacity by resource type. The numbers are redacted, but it is clear that gas combined cycle facilities will make up much of the growth.

How does Calpine Solutions propose to meet the stringent California GHG reduction requirements with this portfolio? Carbon capture and storage (CCS):

If, as Calpine Solutions approaches year 2035 GHG-emissions free generations resources employing CCS technologies are not available in procurement quantities sufficient to meet the GHG emissions target, Calpine Solutions will add other additional GHG-free generation resources to the portfolio. Calpine Solutions declines to speculate what these other GHG-free generation resources may be at this time.

Halcyon angle: California load-serving entities (that includes PG&E, SDG&E, and SCE) submitted their 2026 IRPs to the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this week in docket R2506019. Check out the filings on the docket profile page here.

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Reliability Backstop Procurement Allocations // PJM

PJM Staff and Charles River Associates presented the details of how the RTO will allocate the shortfall from the recent capacity auction across zones. The first estimate is the glaring 6,831.3 MW gap between the supply secured in the 2028/2029 Base Residual Auction (BRA) and PJM’s Reliability Requirement for that delivery year. Here’s a table of the initial allocation of unforced capacity across PJM zones.

From here, zones/areas can demonstrate to the RTO that they have qualifying incremental supply or “opt-outs” to decrease their initial allocation. This (controversial) process will play out over the next few months, until PJM posts the final procurement target and the final zone allocation on November 18th. Check out the timeline on page 6.

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CAISO vs. TransAlta Centralia // DOE 202 Orders // FERC

Centralia Generation Station is a Washington State thermal generator. Get ready for it: CAISO filed an “ANSWER IN OPPOSITION AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO ANSWER AND ANSWER” with the FERC arguing that it should not be charged the costs of keeping Centralia’s 730 MW United 2 available to operate. Centralia is keeping the coal plant online under DOE’s 202 Orders mandating that certain coal units be kept online:

“In this instance, Centralia is seeking to enforce an error in a DOE order that identified the CAISO as the reliability coordinator for the balancing authority area in which the Centralia Generation Station is located, and thus potentially on the hook for a portion of Centralia’s alleged costs of operating. However, DOE subsequently corrected the error and recognized the CAISO was not the reliability coordinator for unit 2 of the Centralia Generation Station or its balancing authority area. Thus, the claimed basis for allocating any of Centralia’s costs to the CAISO vanished.”

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Motion Denied // Meta // Hyperion // Louisiana

In Louisiana, Meta’s attorneys responded to the subpoena filed against them by “non-profit organizations” (NPOs) seeking information on the generation and transmission needed to serve Project Evest. This excerpt highlights the novelty of compelling customers to come forward instead of the utility.

“So this subpoena is effectively an attempt by the NPOs to remake the practice of this Commission and force the customer to come in and prove the case for the investor owned utility. And that would be a revolutionary change of framework in this Commission’s practice, it would be a revolutionary frame really kind of across the southeast. You’d be breaking new ground by doing that. So I think, if that sort of revolutionary framework change is going to happen, that needs to come from a mandate from the Commission above, not from a NPO attempting to use a subpoena to force the customer to come in and prove the case for the utility.”

The entire transcript is worth a read. Ultimately, Meta’s motion to quash the subpoenas was denied by the judge. But on August 12th, the Commission overturned the judge’s denial 3-1.

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WEC Energy Group // Investor Presentation

WEC Energy Group’s June 2026 investor presentation was attached as an exhibit in the ongoing rate case for Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) and Wisconsin Gas. It’s old but full of great charts. The e five-year plan projections sound familiar at this point: $37.5 billion, the largest in the company’s history.

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ERCOT Batch Zero Delay // Texas

ERCOT’s proposed order for the Public Utility Commission of Texas lays out the grid operator’s preferred next steps after the governor’s directive to audit the water and power usage, tax breaks, ownership structures, and other community impacts of all planned data centers and crypto facilities in the state. ERCOT proposes to:

1. Continue to verify the accuracy of information submitted by large load developers,
2. Deviate from Planning Guide requirements related to Batch Zero due to the delay from the statewide audit on large loads,
3. Allow ERCOT to include large loads that utilities submitted as “base load” in the August 1 and November 1 Quarterly Stability Assessments.

Read ERCOT’s request for Good Cause Exceptions to deviate from the initial Batch Zero deadlines here.

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New Docket of the Week

• In South Dakota, Black Hills Power filed for approval to amend its “Phase in Plan Rate” to finance the $320 million 99 MW Lange II project in Rapid City, South Dakota (docket profile). The project is expected to enter service by the end of the year. The utility explains that the project will help mitigate the impact of high market prices during peak demand, and provide black start services after the retirement of the two 20 MW Ben French dual-fuel capable combustion turbine units in 2027. (The two units are currently designated by NERC as “Critical Units” for providing black start services; black start means that the units can start without requiring power from the grid.) By using dual fuel reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE), the utility explains, Lange II offers the right balance of affordability and resiliency. One testimony included a chart comparing the fuel options considered. Dual fuel capability offered cheaper fuel compared with securing firm gas supply plus onsite LNG storage.
  

Excerpt(s) of the Week

• In Texas, dozens of comments were filed in the PUCT rulemaking docket to update wholesale and retail transmission cost recovery and standards in ERCOT. Commenters included Google, ERock, Lancium, Oncor, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, City of Houston, and more. We thought one take from the University of Texas System, on how the Commission should define large loads, was worth noting:
  
  “An example of the unintended impact the rule as proposed would have is at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center ("UT Southwestern"). UT Southwestern is currently developing a new pediatric hospital campus that may approach or cross the 75 MW threshold. Unlike the speculative, flexible loads 16 TAC § 25.252 is designed to address, hospital and university projects are not delayed, downsized, or abandoned when market conditions shift, and the facilities they serve operate for the public benefit for decades [emphasis ours]. It is also not clear that §§ 25.252(c)(3) and 25.252(e)(2) of the proposed rule, in application to The University of Texas System can be reconciled with Article III, Section 49 of the Texas Constitution, which prohibits the state and its agencies from creating debt unless the Legislature has appropriated for it.”
  

Most clicked item from last week’s WHiE

• PJM presentation on the 3.6 GW dropoff of large loads event in July
• An overview of upcoming MISO market design initiatives and key deadlines