Data center power line disputes: why transmission now decides when new capacity gets power

1. What the disputes are about

Data center power line disputes now hold up new capacity in several US states. The lines in question are 500 kV and 765 kV routes that carry power to data center hubs, often through counties that host no data centers at all.

CNN reported on 25 October 2026 that Northern Virginia’s power shortage is driving several large line projects, and that the power will go mainly to Loudoun County. A West Virginia landowner on the proposed route told CNN that her community is “the extension cord for Loudoun County”. Town councils and county commissions along the routes have passed resolutions against the lines, and some have hired outside counsel, according to CNN.

The opposition is now an election issue. WV MetroNews reported on 30 October 2026, four days before the 3 November vote, that data center control and transmission line plans are front of mind for West Virginia voters, and that residents along the routes describe the issue as nonpartisan.

2. The PJM lines: Valley Link and MARL

PJM, the regional transmission organization for the area, picked two projects from competing bids, according to CNN:

• Valley Link, a 765 kV line that CNN says would run 260 miles on 160-foot towers from West Virginia through Virginia into Maryland. A second Valley Link line would cover 116 miles from central Virginia into Northern Virginia.
• The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL), a 500 kV line. WV MetroNews names NextEra Energy as the developer.

Neither is approved yet. Each state on the route has to approve it. CNN reports that Virginia’s State Corporation Commission has historically deferred to utilities on transmission need because grid reliability is one of its main duties.

West Virginia may be harder. CNN reports that a government engineer has recommended that the state Public Service Commission deny the MARL application because it gives “no” benefits to West Virginians. WV MetroNews says the commission’s MARL hearings run through Monday, 2 November 2026. If West Virginia says no, CNN quotes Michael Barber of the Piedmont Environmental Council, which opposes the lines, saying PJM could challenge the decision in court and that case law is too new to predict the outcome.

Local wins so far are about routing. CNN reports that Clarke County, Virginia hired a former state attorney general and got Valley Link’s updated maps to touch only a small tip of the county. A Valley Link spokesperson told CNN that the developer has gone “parcel by parcel” to avoid sensitive sites.

3. Maryland and Alabama: schedules move when land is contested

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) shows what a dispute does to a date. Fox Baltimore reported on 31 August 2026 that the Maryland Public Service Commission approved a revised review schedule for PSEG’s 67-mile line through Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties. Hundreds of landowners had blocked surveyors, and the legal fights over survey access set the project back. The new schedule targets a final order in July 2027, which Fox Baltimore says puts completion more than a year after PJM’s requested in-service date of June 2027.

Alabama has a parallel fight over land access. ABC 33/40 reported on 21 October 2026 that the Alabama Supreme Court stayed a lower court order that had kept Alabama Power off a Shelby County property on the route of its planned 74-mile, $248 million transmission line. Five justices agreed, one dissented and two recused. Alabama Power says the line is needed to relieve overloading on its grid and that it needs access to finish by May 2027. The report does not tie this line to a data center, but the case went to the state’s highest court over half a mile of route, which Alabama Power says is the length crossing that one property.

4. Why the line now sets the energization date

A new line needs a route, surveys, a state certificate and sometimes condemnation, and landowners can challenge each step. The Maryland and Alabama cases above show both kinds of delay.

The demand behind the lines is large. CNN reports that Loudoun County’s energy use grew 233 percent from 2021 to 2025, to more than 5 gigawatts. CNN also quotes Aaron Tinjum of the Data Center Coalition saying that some data centers already approved and built in the area face waits of a year or more to connect, and that constraints in Loudoun have shifted development to other parts of Virginia and to markets such as Georgia.

Grid stress is already visible. CNN reports that during a July heat wave, equipment on a high-voltage line serving Northern Virginia failed, several data centers switched to backup power and about 3,000 MW of load dropped off the grid at once.

The rules for connecting large loads are still being written. CNN reports that federal regulators have ordered national reliability officials to develop criteria for connecting large computational loads to the bulk power system by the end of 2026. In PJM, Energy News Beat reported on 25 October 2026 that FERC on 9 October 2026 accepted PJM’s Large Load definition and Large Load Registry, effective 12 October, and rejected the rest of PJM’s proposal, including its Bring Your Own New Capacity rules.

Local control is shifting too. WV MetroNews reports that West Virginia’s House Bill 2014, passed in 2025, took most control over data centers away from local government. CNN reports that Loudoun County is considering revoking some grandfathered approvals.

5. Who pays for the network upgrades

Cost allocation is the second risk, and it is moving toward the data center.

In PJM, Energy News Beat quotes PJM’s rule that reliability project costs are allocated to “the load zones most served by the new facility”. The same report says the PJM Board approved about $6 billion of new projects in February 2025, including 765 kV lines from the AEP system east toward Virginia. Under that method, households in a load zone share the cost of a line built for data centers in the same zone unless the state changes how its retail rates split it.

States are changing that split:

• Virginia. Energy News Beat reports that the State Corporation Commission cut the 2026 transmission rider increase for a 1,000 kWh household from $2.90 to $0.94 a month by moving cost toward large loads. It also cites an 85% transmission minimum demand charge for large loads starting 1 January 2027 and a new docket, PUR-2026-00131, on directly assigning the cost of facilities that serve a single large customer.
• Ohio. Under AEP Ohio’s data center tariff, Energy News Beat reports, new data centers pay at least 85% of contracted demand for up to 12 years, post collateral of 50% of minimum charges and owe an exit fee. AEP Ohio says more than 30,000 MW of requests shrank to 17,861 MW under contract.
• Texas. Energy News Beat reports that the Public Utility Commission of Texas chose 765 kV import paths at $10.1 billion over a 345 kV option at $8.3 billion. Its large-load rule, in effect since 8 October 2026, requires a $100,000 study fee and $50,000 per MW of financial security before ERCOT studies a large load.

At the federal level, FERC Order 1920 makes each region file a default cost-allocation method “at least roughly commensurate with estimated benefits”, according to Energy News Beat. PJM, the transmission owners and the PJM states asked for a fifth extension on 8 September 2026. As of 25 October 2026, Energy News Beat found no public settlement or cost-allocation filing.

Taken together, these rules mean higher fixed costs for data center developers, which is also Energy News Beat’s own reading. A new site should expect minimum demand charges, collateral, exit fees and possible direct assignment of facilities built only for it.

6. What developers and operators can do

These steps follow from the sources above.

1. Map the transmission path before the land deal. Check whether the load your site needs depends on a line that is still in state review, such as Valley Link, MARL or MPRP. If it does, the line’s certificate date belongs on your critical path.
2. Prefer sites where the wires already exist. CNN’s reporting on development moving out of Loudoun to other parts of Virginia and to Georgia shows the market is already doing this.
3. Look at bringing your own generation. Energy News Beat reports that PJM’s Independent Market Monitor recommends a load queue with an expedited path for data centers that “bring their own new generation”, and that sites with their own generation may get faster service.
4. Ask about non-firm service. Energy News Beat reports that FERC on 18 December 2025 ordered PJM to create co-location rules with four transmission service options, including interim non-firm and non-firm contract demand. Accepting interruptible service can be a way onto the grid sooner, if the site can ride through on its own supply.
5. Budget for the new tariff terms. Model an 85% minimum demand charge, collateral and an exit fee in the financial case, using the Virginia and AEP Ohio terms above as a guide.
6. Plan for curtailment and backup duty. The July event CNN describes, where 3,000 MW of data center load switched to backup at once, is the kind of behaviour grid operators are now writing rules for.

Once the energization date and the contracted megawatts are firm, the rack power capacity planning guide helps check what you can actually fill on day one.

7. Dates to watch

• 2 November 2026: the West Virginia Public Service Commission’s MARL hearings continue through this date, according to WV MetroNews.
• 3 November 2026: West Virginia votes, with data centers and transmission lines among the issues WV MetroNews says are driving turnout.
• About 8 November 2026: PJM’s compliance filing on large loads, due 30 days after FERC’s 9 October order, according to Energy News Beat.
• End of 2026: the federal deadline for criteria on connecting large computational loads, according to CNN.
• May 2027: Alabama Power’s target to finish its 74-mile line, according to ABC 33/40.
• July 2027: the target final order on the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, according to Fox Baltimore.