Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Filing a lawsuit today in the D.C. Circuit, the Sierra Club challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) to fast-track the interconnection of mostly fossil-fueled generation to the power grid. SPP spans 14 states, stretching from Louisiana, parts of Texas, and New Mexico up to Montana and North Dakota. The Sierra Club also filed suit today as part of a coalition challenging a substantially similar fast-track plan that FERC approved for the Midcontinent Interconnection System Operator (MISO).
The lawsuit challenges FERC’s approval of the Expedited Resource Adequacy Study (ERAS) process, which allows the fast-tracked projects to pass significant upgrade costs to residential customers, and to skip over and also pass significant upgrade costs to clean energy projects that have been waiting for years to connect to the grid. As the Sierra Club raised at FERC, SPP improperly dismissed the potential for the fast track to exacerbate challenges in processing and connecting the rest of the queued resources in SPP.
SPP, who submitted the proposal to FERC, claims that the fast track is necessary to meet increased demand from data centers powering artificial intelligence. But it has not demonstrated the expedited process is actually needed: in fact, SPP has suggested in other regulatory contexts that its other reforms to the standard interconnection queue will address any resource shortfalls for the grid it manages.
The price of new gas-burning power plants is outpacing inflation, and the trend is likely to continue according to new analysis. Duke University research notes that new demand for electricity, for example from data centers, can be flexed to avoid building expensive new gas plants while maintaining electric grid reliability.
The Sierra Club challenged SPP’s ERAS proposal before the FERC, which was denied, along with a request for rehearing that was also denied in September 2025. The Sierra Club is now filing a lawsuit challenging FERC’s approval of SPP’s ERAS interconnection fast-track plan.
Quote from Greg Wannier, Senior Attorney with Sierra Club:
“FERC’s approval of SPP and MISO’s line-cutting proposals will only add to the disruption that has prevented hundreds of gigawatts of clean energy from coming online to serve projected resource needs. Both grid operators are spending too much time trying to benefit monopoly utilities and the gas industry at the expense of clean energy and independent producers. The result will be higher monthly bills for tens of millions of people by locking in new gas-burning power plants ahead of cheaper, shovel-ready clean energy projects. If FERC will not enforce its own fair market rules, the courts must do it for them.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.