Colocation Meets Regulation

Energy attorney Willie Phillips was featured in a Datacenter Dynamics article examining how Amazon Web Services' (AWS) attempted behind-the-meter power deal with Talen Energy for its Cumulus data center became a flashpoint for the future of powering artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-scale facilities. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected an amended Interconnection Service Agreement (ISA) that would allow for an increased power supply for the data center, which ultimately sank the deal. The article explores why regulators are pushing for affordability, reliability and clearer rules, how states are moving to ensure large-load customers share grid upgrade costs and why many players are reverting to front‑of‑the‑meter Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Mr. Phillips, who as then-head of FERC provided the lone vote in support of the amended ISA, talked about the need for coordinated planning for data centers as demand surges.

"We need regional coordination, and I would support a national plan to integrate generation and transmission for data centers. They're not like other loads – they're something entirely new and we have to plan accordingly," he said.

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