# Where the Reforms Stand

### A scorecard for the five principles, and the actions already in motion

*A companion paper in the series "The Great Inversion." Updated October 2026.*

Most of the old deal still applies in most of the country. Independent operators and locational prices are standard on the big wires in the organized markets and in Texas. On the local wires, pay for performance, pay for grid value, and large-load tariffs have started, and no regime yet separates the referee. Thirty-eight dated actions, from FERC orders to state statutes, are moving toward the principles.

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## Where each principle stands

*By regulatory regime and voltage, as of October 2026. Typical practice; individual states and utilities vary.*

**1** Pay for performance · **2** Separate the referee · **3** Pay resources for what they do for the grid · **4** Connect by rule · **5** Make big new customers pay their own way

**Missing:** the old deal still applies. **Emerging:** tested or ordered, not yet the rule. **Started:** adopted, far from finished. **Done:** standard practice.

| Regime | Missing | Emerging | Started | Done |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Transmission** | | | | |
| Vertically integrated, non-RTO | 1, 2, 4, 5 | 3 |  |  |
| RTO/ISO regions | 1 | 4, 5 |  | 2, 3 |
| Federal systems | 1, 2, 4 | 3 | 5 |  |
| ERCOT | 1 |  | 5 | 2, 3, 4 |
| **Distribution** | | | | |
| Vertically integrated IOUs | 2 | 4 | 1, 3, 5 |  |
| Competitive-supply IOUs | 2 | 4 | 1, 3, 5 |  |
| Texas TDSPs | 1, 2, 4, 5 | 3 |  |  |
| Hawaii | 2, 4, 5 |  | 1, 3 |  |
| Munis and co-ops | 1, 2, 3, 4 | 5 |  |  |

California's investor-owned utilities fit neither distribution group cleanly. The state has ordered a standard flexible service connection (February 2026) and enacted virtual power plant and grid-utilization laws (September 2026).

### Transmission, the big wires

High voltage, long distance. Mostly FERC-jurisdictional.

**Vertically integrated, non-RTO.** The Southeast and parts of the West.

1. **Missing.** Cost-of-service rates with a return on rate base.
2. **Missing.** The utility that owns generation administers its own open access transmission tariff (OATT) and runs the interconnection studies.
3. **Emerging.** Real-time imbalance markets price energy by location across much of the West, and a day-ahead market went live with PacifiCorp in May 2026. The Southeast trades bilaterally, without locational prices.
4. **Missing.** Study-first interconnection. FERC's June 2026 large-load orders reach the six RTOs only.
5. **Missing.** Capacity is planned in the utility's integrated resource plan (IRP), and its cost is spread across customers.

**RTO/ISO regions.** PJM, MISO, SPP, NYISO, ISO-NE, CAISO.

1. **Missing.** Transmission owners recover costs through FERC formula rates, which update each year from actual costs.
2. **Done.** The independent operator administers the tariff and the queue.
3. **Done.** Locational marginal prices (LMPs) pay generation and storage by time and place.
4. **Emerging.** Non-firm service for curtailable large loads is in effect in SPP. MISO, CAISO, and NYISO have proposed their own, and all six must file at FERC by about November 16, 2026. Generators are still studied first.
5. **Emerging.** Capacity costs are spread across all load. FERC accepted PJM's backstop procurement in September 2026 and suspended it to February 2027. PJM's plan to curtail large loads that bring no capacity is pending.

**Federal systems.** BPA and TVA, federally owned power agencies.

1. **Missing.** Rates recover costs and repay federal debt. Neither agency earns a return for building, and neither is paid for results.
2. **Missing.** The same agency markets power and controls access to its lines.
3. **Emerging.** BPA has traded in the Western Energy Imbalance Market since 2022 and has proposed joining a day-ahead market. TVA sells under long-term contracts.
4. **Missing.** Study-first interconnection.
5. **Started.** Under the 1980 Northwest Power Act, BPA serves new large single loads at a separate, higher rate. TVA's data center rate, with a capacity commitment charge, took effect on October 1, 2026.

**ERCOT.** Texas. Regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), not FERC.

1. **Missing.** Transmission owners are paid on cost of service, with interim updates between rate cases.
2. **Done.** ERCOT, the independent system operator, administers interconnection.
3. **Done.** Nodal prices pay generation and storage by time and place.
4. **Done.** Connect and manage for generators: meet the standards, connect, and be dispatched around congestion. For large loads, standards were adopted in September 2026, and batch studies are paused pending a state audit of the queue.
5. **Started.** SB 6 and the September 2026 rule require loads of 75 MW and above to pay a study fee, post $50,000 per MW in security, and contribute to interconnection costs.

### Distribution, the local wires

Local lines to homes and businesses. Regulated by state commissions, city councils, and co-op boards.

**Vertically integrated IOUs.** Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) that still own generation.

1. **Started.** Multi-year rate plans with performance incentive mechanisms (PIMs) in North Carolina, and required by a 2026 law in Indiana. Washington requires multi-year plans with reported performance metrics.
2. **Missing.** The utility runs its own interconnection queue and hosting-capacity analysis.
3. **Started.** Colorado approved an aggregator virtual power plant tariff and ordered monthly hosting-capacity updates in December 2025. Minnesota approved a distributed battery program of up to 200 MW in April 2026.
4. **Emerging.** Flexible interconnection ordered in Colorado, as a tariff for generation and load, and in Minnesota, as a pilot.
5. **Started.** Large-load tariffs that assign incremental cost are approved in twenty-five states, across both kinds of IOU.

**Competitive-supply IOUs.** Wires-only. Retail choice in MA, NY, PA, NJ, IL, OH.

1. **Started.** Multi-year rate plans in MA, NY, and IL, with capital outside the revenue cap. Connecticut's framework is still in draft, and Maryland ended its multi-year pilot in October 2026.
2. **Missing.** Wires-only, yet the utility still decides who connects. Pennsylvania's commission now validates utilities' load forecasts, and Maryland's must keep a large-load registry from 2027.
3. **Started.** New York's value stack (VDER) has paid distributed resources by time and location since 2017. Illinois now requires utility virtual power plant programs.
4. **Emerging.** Flexible-interconnection pilots in New York and Massachusetts, with statewide guidelines due in Massachusetts in late 2026.
5. **Started.** Large-load tariffs here too. Ohio's sets an 85 percent minimum demand charge and 12-year terms above 25 MW. New Jersey and Maryland now require data center rate schedules by law.

**Texas TDSPs.** Transmission and distribution service providers: Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP.

1. **Missing.** Cost of service, with capital recovered between rate cases through the distribution cost recovery factor (DCRF), which a utility may file twice a year.
2. **Missing.** Wires-only since 2002, yet the TDSP still decides who connects.
3. **Emerging.** An ERCOT pilot lets aggregated distributed resources earn wholesale prices. Its cap rose to 500 MW in March 2026.
4. **Missing.** Study-based interconnection at distribution voltage.
5. **Missing.** Large loads connect at transmission voltage, where SB 6 applies.

**Hawaii.** Hawaiian Electric. Performance-based regulation (PBR) adopted in 2020.

1. **Started.** A multi-year revenue cap that includes capital, with PIMs tied in part to the interconnection of customer resources. The first five-year period ended in 2026, and rates are being reset.
2. **Missing.** Hawaiian Electric runs its own queue.
3. **Started.** The Smart DER tariff pays export rates that vary by time of day, and the Bring Your Own Device program pays for battery dispatch.
4. **Missing.** Study-based interconnection.
5. **Missing.** No large-load tariff.

**Munis and co-ops.** City- and member-owned, mostly outside state commission jurisdiction.

1. **Missing.** No shareholder return for building, and no pay for results either.
2. **Missing.** The utility owns the wires and runs connections.
3. **Missing.** Flat retail rates are typical.
4. **Missing.** The utility sets its own interconnection terms, and many co-op all-requirements contracts with a generation and transmission (G&T) supplier cap local generation.
5. **Emerging.** Texas requires munis and co-ops to pass interconnection costs through to large loads, and California's Imperial Irrigation District adopted a large-load tariff in September 2026. Elsewhere, large loads are served under negotiated contracts, which draw less scrutiny than a published tariff.

*Sources: FERC large-load orders, June 2026, and order on PJM's backstop procurement, Sept. 29, 2026; SPP CHILLS tariff; PJM filings, 2026; Texas SB 6 and 16 TAC 25.194; ERCOT market notices; CAISO Western Energy Markets; Northwest Power Act of 1980 and BPA's New Large Single Load policy; TVA Board, Aug. 20, 2026; Hawaii PUC Docket 2018-0088 and DER program orders; New York VDER orders; Edison Electric Institute large-load tariff tracking, September 2026; PUCO, AEP Ohio settlement, July 2025; Harvard Electricity Law Initiative, "Extracting Profits from the Public," March 2025; Colorado PUC Decision C25-0903; Indiana HEA 1002; Washington UTC Docket U-210590; state multi-year rate plan and flexible-interconnection proceedings in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and North Carolina.*

## The momentum ledger

*Actions already moving toward the new agreement, as of October 2026.*

**1** Pay for performance · **2** Separate the referee · **3** Pay resources for what they do for the grid · **4** Connect by rule · **5** Make big new customers pay their own way

**Enacted:** law or a final order. **Ordered:** a commission or court directive not yet complete. **Filed:** a formal proposal in process. **Proposed:** a published design without process. **Organized:** a constituency, not a policy.

**Sep 2026 · California.** Two laws signed: SB 913 directs the utilities commission and the grid operator to measure and reward the grid value of virtual power plants, and SB 905 requires utilities to measure and report grid utilization, with a path to targets. *Enacted. Principles 1, 3. Source: California SB 905 and SB 913, signed Sept. 2026.*

**Sep 2026 · FERC and PJM.** FERC accepted PJM's one-time backstop procurement for a 6,831 MW capacity shortfall, then suspended it to February 28, 2027, pending further proceedings on three issues. The bid window set for September 30 did not open. *Ordered. Principle 5. Source: FERC order in ER26-3380, Sept. 29, 2026; PJM Inside Lines.*

**Sep 2026 · Texas PUC.** Large-load interconnection standards adopted under SB 6 for loads of 75 MW and above: a flat $100,000 study fee and $50,000 per MW in security, effective October 8, 2026. *Adopted while a governor-ordered audit has paused ERCOT's batch study of large loads.* *Enacted. Principles 4, 5. Source: PUCT Project 58481, 16 TAC 25.194, adopted Sept. 18, 2026.*

**Sep 2026 · State commissions.** Large-load tariffs assigning incremental cost have been approved in twenty-five states, with seven more pending. *Enacted. Principle 5. Source: Edison Electric Institute tracking, September 2026.*

**Aug to Sep 2026 · MISO, CAISO, and NYISO.** Flexible or non-firm service options for large loads proposed in stakeholder processes, ahead of filings due at FERC about November 16, 2026. *Proposed. Principle 4. Source: MISO Large Load Working Group, Sept. 2026; CAISO straw proposal, Aug. 12, 2026; NYISO, Sept. 22, 2026.*

**Aug 2026 · FERC and SPP.** Tariff accepted for topology optimization: market participants or SPP may propose reconfiguring the grid around a congested element, effective October 1, 2026. MISO runs a similar request process and put its 2025 market benefit at $113 million. *Enacted. Principles 2, 4. Source: FERC order in ER26-2592, Aug. 19, 2026; MISO Reliability Subcommittee, Feb. 17, 2026.*

**Aug 2026 · TVA.** Board approved a data center rate with a capacity commitment charge for new or expanding loads above 5 MW, effective October 1, 2026. *Enacted. Principle 5. Source: TVA Board of Directors, Aug. 20, 2026.*

**Aug 2026 · Pennsylvania.** Executive Order 2026-05 sets requirements for data centers above 25 MW and directs the governor's energy counsel to press the utility commission for rules that keep data center costs off other customers. *Ordered. Principle 5. Source: Pennsylvania Executive Order 2026-05, Aug. 18, 2026.*

**Aug 2026 · Grid 2.0 Task Force.** An open protocol standard for permission-based grid access with tiered service classes, written to unify the connect-and-manage schemes emerging across the organized markets. *A proposal without an operating record.* *Proposed. Principles 3, 4. Source: G2TF, RFC #1, August 2026.*

**Jul to Aug 2026 · PJM.** Two filings at FERC: a backstop procurement that settles as 15-year contracts, not one-year auction exposure (July 31), and connect-and-manage, filed as the Interim Resource Adequacy Service with a neutral Large Load Registry (August 13). The second is pending. *Filed. Principles 2, 4, 5. Source: PJM filings in ER26-3380 and ER26-3515, 2026.*

**Jul 2026 · Minnesota.** Commission accepted Xcel's distribution plan, with filings due on flexible interconnection and net-load methodology and pilot proposals due in 2027 for a virtual power plant and flexible interconnection. In April it approved a distributed battery program of up to 200 MW. *Ordered. Principles 3, 4. Source: Minnesota PUC Dockets 25-142, July 30, 2026, and 25-378, April 2, 2026.*

**Jul 2026 · New Jersey.** A new law requires the Board of Public Utilities to create a rate-setting process for data centers of 50 MW or more that shields other ratepayers. *Enacted. Principle 5. Source: New Jersey Legislature, signed July 7, 2026.*

**Jun 2026 · FERC.** Show-cause orders to all six RTOs and their transmission owners: justify or reform large-load interconnection, extend flexible and non-firm service, and require minimum financial commitments that backstop network upgrades. All six sought more time, and filings are now due about November 16, 2026. *Ordered. Principles 4, 5. Source: FERC, Section 206 orders, June 18, 2026 (EL26-67 to EL26-72).*

**Jun 2026 · FERC and SPP.** Non-firm transmission service for large loads that accept curtailment approved for up to seven years, effective July 1, 2026. It builds on the study processes for large loads and nearby generation approved in January. *Enacted. Principle 4. Source: FERC order on SPP CHILLS, ER26-1323, June 5, 2026.*

**May 2026 · Pennsylvania.** Commission issued a model tariff for large-load customers above 50 MW, as guidance for utility filings. *Ordered. Principle 5. Source: Pennsylvania PUC, Docket M-2025-3054271, Final Order May 12, 2026.*

**May 2026 · CAISO and PacifiCorp.** The Extended Day-Ahead Market went live with PacifiCorp, extending day-ahead prices by location to a utility outside an RTO. *Enacted. Principle 3. Source: CAISO and PacifiCorp, May 1, 2026.*

**Apr 2026 · Virginia.** First-in-the-nation grid-utilization law: utilities must petition the commission by October 15, 2026, for approval of utilization metrics, the commission may set timelines to raise utilization, and the metrics may inform review of capital cost recovery, alongside required non-wires analysis. *Enacted. Principles 1, 3, 4. Source: Virginia SB 621 / HB 434, 2026 Acts, Chapter 611.*

**Apr 2026 · Virginia.** Dominion and Appalachian Power must file voluntary demand-flexibility programs for high-load customers by January 15, 2027. Co-ops with such customers follow by 2029. *Enacted. Principles 3, 5. Source: Virginia HB 284 / SB 371, 2026.*

**Apr 2026 · Maryland.** Utility RELIEF Act: the commission must set grid-utilization metrics and improvement targets, the threshold for large-load rate schedules falls from 100 MW to 25 MW, and the commission must set up a large-load registry by January 2027. *The act also puts a one-year moratorium on multi-year rate plans.* *Enacted. Principles 1, 2, 5. Source: Maryland HB 1532 / SB 841, 2026.*

**Apr 2026 · Alabama.** The commission must weigh whether a utility's contract with a large data center recovers the incremental costs from the data center. *Enacted. Principle 5. Source: Alabama SB 270 (Act 610), April 17, 2026.*

**Apr 2026 · Massachusetts.** A working group sanctioned by the utility regulator is drafting statewide flexible-interconnection guidelines, to be presented in late 2026. National Grid and Eversource run pilots. *Proposed. Principle 4. Source: Massachusetts Interconnection Implementation Review Group, update to the DPU, April 8, 2026.*

**Mar 2026 · PJM.** First regional market to run on the temperature-adjusted line ratings FERC required in 2021. *The other five have extensions, the last to the end of 2028.* *Enacted. Principle 4. Source: PJM, live March 4, 2026; FERC Order No. 881 compliance orders.*

**Mar 2026 · ERCOT.** Cap on the pilot that lets aggregated distributed resources sell into the wholesale market raised from 200 MW to 500 MW. *Enacted. Principle 3. Source: ERCOT Market Notice M-A030226-01, March 2, 2026.*

**Mar 2026 · Coalitions.** Grid-utilization and flexibility advocacy is organized: a utilization coalition of large customers, DER providers, and grid-technology firms, alongside standing GETs, customer, and advanced-energy alliances. *Organized. Principles 1, 3, 4, 5. Source: UTILIZE Coalition launch, March 10, 2026; WATT Coalition; Electricity Customer Alliance.*

**Feb 2026 · Indiana.** Investor-owned electric utilities must file multi-year rate plans with performance incentive mechanisms for affordability and reliability. *Enacted. Principle 1. Source: Indiana HEA 1002, signed Feb. 26, 2026.*

**Feb 2026 · California.** Commission ordered PG&E and SCE to offer a standard flexible service connection for customers waiting on distribution upgrades. A July proposal would scale it. *Ordered. Principles 3, 4. Source: CPUC Decision 26-02-025, Feb. 5, 2026; assigned commissioner's proposal, July 7, 2026.*

**Jan 2026 · New York.** National Grid petitioned to offer flexible interconnection at more locations, expanding a pilot that serves two solar projects. *Filed. Principle 4. Source: NY PSC Case 26-E-0052, filed Jan. 21, 2026.*

**Jan 2026 · New Jersey.** Executive Order 1 directs the utility board to study the utility business model, including performance-based ratemaking that counts interconnection speed, and multi-year rate plans. *Ordered. Principle 1. Source: New Jersey Executive Order 1, Jan. 20, 2026; BPU Docket EO26040117.*

**Jan 2026 · Washington.** Commission policy statement sets the performance metrics utilities report each year under multi-year rate plans, and the principles for incentive mechanisms. *Enacted. Principle 1. Source: Washington UTC, Docket U-210590, Jan. 26, 2026.*

**Jan 2026 · Illinois.** Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act: 3 GW of storage by 2030 and utility virtual power plant programs. *Enacted. Principle 3. Source: Illinois Public Act 104-0458, signed Jan. 8, 2026.*

**Dec 2025 · Colorado.** Commission ordered open hosting-capacity maps with data downloads, monthly updates by the end of 2026, and finer-grained analysis, potentially hourly, by the end of 2027, plus a standardized flexible-interconnection tariff for both generation and load. *Ordered. Principles 3, 4. Source: Colorado PUC Decision C25-0903, Dec. 15, 2025.*

**Dec 2025 · Oregon.** Rulemaking opened to build a multi-year rate plan framework with performance-based mechanisms, under two 2025 laws. *Ordered. Principle 1. Source: Oregon PUC, AR 676 (HB 3179 and SB 688).*

**Nov 2025 · Colorado.** Commission set interim terms that a customer of 50 MW or more must sign before Xcel counts its load in resource planning: 15-year contracts, minimum bills, and a $250,000 study deposit. A tariff to replace them, filed in April 2026, is pending. *Ordered. Principle 5. Source: Colorado PUC Decision C25-0747, Nov. 6, 2025; Proceeding 26AL-0137E.*

**Nov 2025 · Pennsylvania.** Load Forecast Accountability: the commission must validate the load forecasts utilities send to the regional market. *Enacted. Principles 2, 5. Source: Pennsylvania Act 45 of 2025 (HB 416), signed Nov. 12, 2025.*

**Jul 2025 · Ohio.** Commission-approved data center tariff: 85 percent minimum demand charge and 12-year terms for loads above 25 MW. *Manufacturers contested the tariff on forecast grounds.* *Enacted. Principle 5. Source: PUCO, AEP Ohio settlement, July 2025.*

**Jun 2025 · Texas.** SB 6: interconnection standards for loads of 75 MW and above, financial contribution to interconnection costs, curtailment equipment required before connection, a competitively procured demand-reduction service, and a review of transmission cost allocation. *Enacted. Principles 4, 5. Source: Texas Legislature, SB 6, signed June 2025.*

**To July 2026 · Twenty-three states.** Grid-enhancing-technology and advanced-conductor statutes: Virginia first required GETs in resource planning, Maryland now mandates advanced technologies on new transmission, California requires recurring reconductoring studies, and Colorado now requires utilities to analyze advanced transmission technologies in their ten-year plans. *Many of the laws require study or consideration only.* *Enacted. Principle 4. Source: World Resources Institute count as of July 31, 2026; WATT Coalition tracking; Colorado HB26-1081, signed May 29, 2026.*

**2019 to 2023 · Four states.** Performance-based regulation authorized by statute in Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, and Washington; multi-year plans with performance mechanisms now run in Illinois, and more than thirty jurisdictions sit in the national performance-based regulation working group. *Enacted. Principle 1. Source: State statutes; NARUC Performance-Based Regulation State Working Group.*

None of these is the full program. The five principles show how the pieces depend on each other and what is still missing: no entry yet separates the referee on the local wires.

Five actions since July cut the other way. Maryland's commission ended its multi-year rate plan pilot on October 1, 2026, finding its goals largely unmet. Texas paused new data center connections on August 3 pending an audit of ERCOT's queue. New York put a hold on permits for data centers of 50 MW or more on July 14. California's budget, final in late August, left the state's largest virtual power plant program, with more than 1 GW enrolled, without funding after 2026. In Congress, a House-passed bill asking states to consider making large loads pay for their infrastructure failed a Senate vote, 57 to 43, on September 30.

*Sources: Maryland PSC, Oct. 1, 2026; Texas governor's letter, Aug. 3, 2026; New York Executive Order 62, July 14, 2026; California budget legislation, as reported Sept. 1, 2026; US Senate vote, Sept. 30, 2026.*