Section 206 show-cause

FERC used Section 206 on 18 June 2026 to send show-cause orders to all six US grid operators (RTOs) rather than issue the large-load connection rule it had promised for end-June. Each RTO must prove its existing tariff is just and reasonable, or propose reforms, across five areas: co-location terms, large-load definitions, queue priority, cost allocation, and reliability obligations. The same order set a separate 20 July Deadline for generation-adequacy reports, which the six RTOs met just days after MISO declared its second maximum-generation emergency of the month; show-cause responses proper are due 17 August, public comments 16 September.

Section 206 of the Federal Power Act gives FERC authority to investigate whether a utility's rates, terms, or conditions are unjust, unreasonable, or unduly discriminatory, and to order changes. Unlike direct rulemaking, which FERC initiates itself, Section 206 places the burden of proof on the existing tariff holder to justify current arrangements. This procedural posture explains why show-cause extends the timeline rather than compressing it: FERC can let six separate proceedings run simultaneously, collecting evidence before writing a national rule, rather than defending a single standard through immediate appellate litigation. The mechanism was used in earlier interconnection reform cycles, including the run-up to FERC Order 2003 in 2003, which took three years from proceeding to adopted rule.

Industry lawyers estimate six to eighteen months from a show-cause order to a final FERC order, pushing any binding standard on large-load connections to 2027 at the earliest. The August and September filing dates are the next concrete checkpoints; whether the responses converge on common reforms or fracture along RTO lines will shape how uniform the eventual national standard can be.