NexPhase Advisory

The Morning Read

Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Corrected 2026-10-14: An item on California electricity prices was removed; it should not have run. The Dominion-NextEra merger item and the Bottom Line said the merger was tracking toward denial; they now report what Utility Dive reported: most officials at the Oct. 9 hearing asked for the merger to be denied or allowed contingent on guarantees. The PG&E headline now uses Utility Dive's wording (more than two dozen counties, not 24+); a line saying there was nothing to reposition on was removed from that item; the Duke Energy Carolinas item now carries one Our read paragraph.
01  The Bottom Line
FERC's rejection of PJM's Interim Resource Adequacy Service removes the proposed mechanism that would have required new large loads to bring their own capacity or face curtailment. energyRe closed an $815 million financing for five South Carolina solar projects totaling about 360 MW, contracted under 25-year power purchase agreements. In Virginia, most state and local officials who spoke at the SCC's Oct. 9 hearing on the Dominion-NextEra merger asked for it to be denied or allowed contingent on guarantees, per Utility Dive; the SCC is set to decide in January.

Our read: A short-term win for data center developers in PJM but one that leaves the resource adequacy gap for the capacity market to resolve. Lenders are still financing contracted solar in the Southeast at scale.
02  Signal of the Day
PJM
FERC · per RTO Insider · 2026-10-13
FERC killing the Interim Resource Adequacy Service framework removes the one mechanism PJM had proposed to make new large loads internalize their capacity impact. That is a short-term win for load, but it leaves the resource adequacy gap unsolved.

Our read: FERC's rejection means data center developers in PJM do not face a forced capacity obligation at interconnection under the IRAS framework. Watch for PJM to come back with a revised proposal; the capacity market now bears the burden IRAS would have handled administratively.
03  Market Intelligence
PJM  · 1 signal
Dominion Energy / NextEra Energy · per Utility Dive · 2026-10-12
Most of the state and local officials who spoke at the SCC's Oct. 9 hearing asked for the Dominion-NextEra merger to be denied or allowed contingent on guarantees, including Virginia Clean Economy Act compliance and data centers paying for infrastructure costs, per Utility Dive. Virginia's lieutenant governor has said she concluded the merger is not in the best interest of Virginians. The evidentiary hearing begins Nov. 17, and the SCC is set to decide in January.
MISO  · 1 signal
We Energies · per POWER Magazine · 2026-10-13
We Energies filing an engineering plan for 750 MW of gas at Fox Energy Center is the utility's direct answer to rising load forecasts driven by data center growth in the state.

Our read: With commercial operation targeted for late 2032 pending approvals, this does nothing for near-term capacity. The more immediate question is what that incoming load looks like in the MISO queue, because new thermal several years out does not cover the ramp if large loads arrive on schedule.
CAISO  · 1 signal
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) · per Utility Dive · 2026-10-13
Extended PSPS events across two dozen counties are an operational problem for commercial customers in PG&E territory, not a structural grid signal. CAISO issued no Flex Alerts during the heat wave, though it issued six Restricted Maintenance Operations notices and said it did not forecast supply shortfalls.
National & Policy  · 2 signals
energyRe · per PV Tech · 2026-10-13
energyRe closed an $815 million financing package for five utility-scale solar projects in South Carolina totaling about 360 MW, per its release. The five projects are contracted under 25-year power purchase agreements. Bank of America, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Santander supported the financing. energyRe calls it one of the largest solar-only project financings in South Carolina's history and says it advances a 1.8+ GW portfolio across 20 projects.

Our read: Whether those projects already hold firm transmission access is the open question for anyone underwriting the next round.
Duke Energy Carolinas · per Utility Dive · 2026-10-13
FERC approving Duke Energy Carolinas' large-load NITSA gives non-RTO transmission owners a reference point as show-cause orders loom. Commissioner Rosner called the consumer protections 'meaningful, if imperfect,' and said such protections are 'inadequate across the country.'

Our read: This sets a directional signal for RTO proposals due next month. Developers targeting Duke Carolinas territory now have a cleaner cost signal for what grid access costs under the approved NITSA provisions.
04  Regulatory Watch  · 1 filing · 7 openView Filings▾
RM21-17-000 · multi · cost allocation · 3 filings
FERC grants motion governing further proceedings in landmark regional transmission planning and cost allocation rulemaking.
Filed 2026-10-08   20260717-3052 ›  ·  20260717-3053 ›  ·  20261008-3067 ›
Open dockets · last filing more than 30 days ago
EL26-67-000 · PJM · cost allocation · 3 filings
FERC initiates Section 206 proceeding against PJM, all commissioners concurring separately
Filed 2026-06-18   20260618-3105 ›  ·  20260708-5011 ›  ·  20260618-3111 ›
ER26-3380-000 · PJM · large load
PJM files reliability backstop procurement tariff addressing resource adequacy and large load growth
Filed 2026-07-31   20260731-5214 ›
ER26-1323-002 · SPP · large load
SPP compliance filing for conditional high-impact large load service tariff provisions
Filed 2026-07-06   20260706-5174 ›
ER26-2698-000 · NYISO · queue reform
NYISO supplemental filing on interconnection process improvements affecting queue procedures
Filed 2026-07-08   20260708-5191 ›
ER26-2577-000 · NYISO · queue reform
FERC accepts NYISO interconnection procedure revisions with commissioner concurrence
Filed 2026-07-20   20260720-3065 ›
ER26-2295-000 · MISO · queue reform
FERC denies interconnection or tariff waiver request for Lansing Board of Water and Light
Filed 2026-07-21   20260721-3017 ›
EL26-39-001 · PJM · queue reform
FERC denies rehearing by operation of law in solar developer dispute against PJM interconnection
Filed 2026-07-23   20260723-3013 ›
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