Interim Resource Adequacy Service
PJM tariff provision making large loads curtailable as a condition of grid connection.
PJM Interconnection filed its Interim Resource Adequacy Service with FERC on 31 July, a standing tariff rule that would make single-site loads of 50 MW or more curtailable from 1 June 2027 unless they bring new capacity.
Last refreshed: 14 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Could a 50 MW data centre be forced offline with only ten minutes' notice?
Timeline for Interim Resource Adequacy Service
PJM wants 50 MW loads curtailable
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
The Interim Resource Adequacy Service (IRAS) is PJM Interconnection's proposed tariff rule making large single-site electricity loads curtailable as an ordinary condition of grid connection, rather than something invoked only in an emergency.
PJM lodged the filing with FERC on 31 July 2026 under docket ER26-3380-000, paired with its Reliability Backstop Procurement. As proposed, any site drawing 50 MW or more would become curtailable from 1 June 2027 unless it arrives with its own new generating capacity or backstop credit already in place; the requested start date is 29 September 2026, pending FERC's review of comments submitted through 21 August.
The defining feature is sequencing: IRAS cuts would land before pre-emergency load management, inside a ten-minute execution window, and as a standing rule rather than a one-off. That marks it apart from the Department of Energy's Section 202(c) grant PJM used earlier this year, a temporary emergency order under separate statutory authority that lapses with the event that triggered it.
Large loads face curtailment by 2027
PJM Interconnection filed the Interim Resource Adequacy Service with FERC on 31 July 2026 under docket ER26-3380-000. Once in force, any single site drawing 50 MW or more becomes curtailable from 1 June 2027 unless it brings its own new generating capacity or holds backstop procurement credit.
The mechanism sets IRAS apart from anything PJM has used before: cuts trigger before pre-emergency load management, inside a ten-minute execution window, rather than as a last resort. That makes it a standing condition of connection, not a one-off order. PJM's own 202(c) emergency grant from the Department of Energy, which let it cut backup-equipped data centres during a single heat event, expires with that event; IRAS does not.