MISO
Midcontinent Independent System Operator, managing electricity transmission across 15 US states and Manitoba.
MISO declared its second maximum-generation emergency of July on 15 July 2026 as demand across its 15-state Midwest grid hit a record 122 GW, and has flagged a possible 4.7 GW shortfall by 2028.
Last refreshed: 4 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will MISO's Midwest grid attract data-centre investment diverted from constrained US coastal markets?
Timeline for MISO
Cited a possible 4.7 GW shortfall by 2028 and proposed a parallel study process for large loads
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Data Centres: Boom and BacklashDeclared its second maximum-generation emergency of July as demand hit a 122 GW peak
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Data Centres: Boom and Backlash: FERC delays its grid rule to 2027Background
MISO (the Midcontinent Independent System Operator) manages the high-voltage grid across 15 US states stretching from Manitoba to Louisiana, one of the largest footprints of any US RTO by land area, and administers wholesale electricity markets for more than 180 million customers. It operates in two electrically separate interconnection regions, North and South, which adds coordination complexity when integrating large new loads that straddle the divide.
The Midwest corridor MISO manages offers data-centre developers lower land costs, simpler permitting and access to nuclear and renewable generation that Northern Virginia and Texas cannot match on speed or carbon profile, making it a natural release valve for demand priced out of those more congested markets.
MISO is one of six US regional transmission organisations FERC ordered on 18 June 2026 to justify or reform large-load tariffs, with responses due 17 August 2026, also having had to file a generation-adequacy report by 20 July 2026, and any binding national standard deferred to 2027 at the earliest.
MISO flags a looming shortfall
MISO declared its second maximum-generation emergency of July on 15 July 2026, as a heat dome pushed demand across its 15-state Midwest territory to a record 122 GW; data-centre load in the region has grown 43% a year since 2020.
Filing its FERC-ordered adequacy report five days later, MISO is among the six RTOs that could not confirm it can serve its data-centre queue under current rules, and has pointed to a possible 4.7 GW shortfall by 2028, prompting moves to speed approval of co-located generation to close the gap.