PJM eyes ride-through rules for data centers after 3.8 GW outage

After roughly 3,800 MW of data-center load tripped offline in northern Virginia on July 22—the largest PJM event—PJM is weighing ride-through standards and other reliability rules for 'computational loads' like data centers and crypto-mining facilities. The disturbance caused voltage and frequency swings; PJM recovered the balancing error in nine minutes (versus the 30-minute NERC target) and deployed reactive power. Similar 1,500 MW transfers occurred in Dominion's zone in 2024 and 2025. With NERC moving to set standards for computational loads and FERC directing finalization of criteria by year-end and a plan by March, PJM says these requirements should be in place before new loads come online.