Enverus: SPP leads large-load readiness while PJM holds largest pipeline

SPP is the only region with FERC-approved large-load tariffs, according to Enverus Intelligence Research's grading of ISO and RTO large-load readiness. PJM holds the largest high-confidence data center pipeline in that assessment, at about 11.8 GW.

Enverus scored each operator against the five reform areas FERC identified in its June 2026 show-cause orders. Those orders required every grid operator to prove its interconnection framework can handle the 62 GW of new U.S. data center capacity expected by 2030.

SPP's High Impact Large Load and High Impact Large Load Generation Assessment frameworks pair generation with load, reduce network upgrade costs, facilitate colocation, limit cost sharing to ratepayers and improve study efficiency. Its Conditional High Impact Large Load Service goes further: it enables an almost immediate grid connection for a new or expanding large load, provided the developer accepts conditional, non-firm service for seven years during upgrades and carries peak-demand curtailment risk.

SPP holds only about 5% of the high-confidence pipeline, which Enverus defines as projects where the developer has land ownership and access to power, gas and fiber. Reform is uneven across FERC-jurisdictional regions, and a few operators have barely started.

PJM's 11.8 GW is the largest high-confidence pipeline in the assessment, and 58% of it is expected to be served behind the meter. That split suggests developers in the region are prioritizing speed to power over the interconnection queue: a behind-the-meter project would still need generation, fuel and permits, but it would shift the timing question onto the developer's own procurement rather than the operator's study process.

FERC is not pushing a single template; Enverus notes the commission encouraged operators to tailor reforms to their systems. The result is a patchwork of timelines, costs and risk that developers and investors must navigate largely on their own, while utilities carry the burden of rewriting operational playbooks, planning for short-term grid impacts and revising capital expenditure forecasts.