NEWS: FERC Chair Laura Swett has a bone to pick with Big Tech.

Speaking at CERAWeek, she said she hears from utilities about AI-driven demand around 9X more than from hyperscalers. And when tech companies do engage with FERC? Swett noted that they “show a lack of understanding” about how utilities and the grid actually function.

Case in point: In another CERAWeek panel, Fermi America CEO Toby Neugebauer debated off-grid data centers with Amanda Peterson, Google's global head of data center energy. Neugebauer’s argument: Behind-the-meter gas and nuclear is the only path that moves fast enough and shields ratepayers. Peterson’s take? Islanded sites force overbuilding, strand idle gas assets, and dodge grid upgrades everyone else pays for.