US Regulator Chides Big Tech for Lack of Engagement on Grids

The chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said big tech companies seeking more power for their data centers don’t engage enough with her agency.

Laura Swett, who was appointed to FERC by President Donald Trump, said she’s having far more discussions with traditional power utilities over how to hook up new projects to the grid.

Securing electricity has emerged as a key bottleneck for the hyperscalers spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build out AI-related infrastructure.

Hyperscalers’ “complaints about the utilities, quite frankly to me, show a lack of understanding of how the utilities normally function ...