How Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Georgia set the terms that data centers and other large electricity customers must accept: size thresholds, minimum bills, contract terms, exit fees, and collateral. Current as of October 25, 2026.
Interactive version: jphoebus.github.io/large-load-tariffs
All projects: jphoebus.github.io
When a data center connects to the grid, utilities often build new transmission, distribution, and generation to serve it. Large-load tariffs decide who carries that cost if the project grows more slowly than planned, shrinks, or leaves. This comparison looks at how five states answer that question, and who in each state sets the terms. It is a companion to State data center incentives, compared, which covers the tax side.
- Five states, five ways of setting terms. Virginia created a rate class in a utility rate case. Ohio approved one utility's tariff as a settlement. Pennsylvania issued a voluntary model for each utility to adopt. Maryland set the threshold by statute and left the terms to pending tariff cases. Georgia allows custom contracts, each reviewed by the commission before signing.
- Where terms are written, they look alike. Minimum bills cluster at 80 to 85 percent of contracted demand, with Virginia setting 60 percent for generation. Contracts run 12 to 15 years, and collateral for customers without strong credit runs about half of minimum charges. Pennsylvania's model is the outlier on length, with a five-year minimum after the ramp period and 48 months' notice to exit.
- Thresholds vary more than terms. Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland start at 25 MW. Pennsylvania starts at 50 MW individually or 100 MW in aggregate, and Georgia at 100 MW.
- Legislatures are moving into space regulators built. Pennsylvania's HB 2828 would require utilities to adopt the commission's model. Maryland's statute already sets the threshold. Ohio's Substitute HB 646 would create a statewide data center rate class, and a Georgia Senate committee heard testimony this year on a bill to codify the commission's protections.
- October 23 and December 8-11, 2026: Maryland PSC hearings on the BGE, Delmarva Power, and Pepco large-load tariff.
- Fall 2026: Pennsylvania's HB 2828 awaits a House floor vote.
- November 3, 2026: Georgia Public Service Commission elections.
- After November 3, 2026: Ohio's Substitute HB 646 is expected to return; the Ohio Supreme Court appeal of AEP Ohio's tariff is pending.
- November 5, 2026: public testimony begins on NextEra's proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy, followed by the SCC's evidentiary hearing November 17 and a decision due by January 11, 2027. On October 19, SCC staff recommended denial unless the companies accept binding conditions, and supported a residential bill credit that data centers would not receive. The same day, Gov. Spanberger's testimony asked for a six-year residential base-rate freeze, $29 monthly bill credits for four years, and stronger protections against data center costs being passed to households, including a separate company to build clean energy for large data centers.
- January 1, 2027: Virginia's GS-5 rate class takes effect, with a separate transmission cost tariff still in development.
- January 28, 2027: PUC final vote targeted on emergency curtailment rules for large loads (as reported).
The question I expect to shape the next round: whether large-load terms stay with regulators, set utility by utility, or move into statute, trading flexibility for uniformity.
The full comparison is in large-load-tariffs.csv, with one row per state and 18 columns covering the regulator, mechanism, utilities covered, decision and date, size threshold, load factor, minimum bill, contract term, load ramp, exit terms, collateral, costs assigned, regulator review, and 2026 status. Each row lists its sources. Where a detail could not be confirmed or is still pending, the file says so rather than guessing. This comparison is for policy analysis and is not legal or regulatory advice.
- What states changed on data centers in 2026
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- How states check their tax incentives
- DOE's SPARK grid selections, tracked
- Are state rules ready for quantum computing?
- Which data center load counts
I'm Joshua Phoebus. I spent seven and a half years in Pennsylvania state government, including four years as Director of Performance and Transformation in the Office of Governor Tom Wolf, where I led the Commonwealth's performance-based budgeting engagement across twenty-nine executive agencies and guided agencies on compliance with the tax credit reviews required under Act 48.
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshuaphoebus
- Website: joshuaphoebusllc.com