Large load interconnection intake that screens every request against headroom and offers a staged ramp the grid can serve now
Every request screened against headroom, with a staged offer the grid can serve now.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Data centres, hydrogen electrolysers, district cooling plants and heavy industry ask for hundreds of megawatts at a time — often for the same parcel at two or three utilities at once, and with ramp schedules that run ahead of their own transformer orders. Each request arrives as an application form, a ramp schedule, a one-line diagram and a stack of land and finance documents. The key-account manager chases what is missing by email, the tariff analyst works out the deposit, minimum bill and collateral by hand, and nobody checks systematically whether the same site was asked of a neighbouring utility.
Headroom is checked last. Transmission planning runs its screen only once the request is complete, weeks after it arrived, and the answer is usually binary — “we can study 300 MW” or “not before 2030” — when a staged yes was available. Every speculative study uses planning engineers, the scarcest people in the utility, and every capacity reservation without collateral is stranded-cost risk carried by other customers. Tariff terms applied in spreadsheets are a non-discrimination risk in front of the commission.
Estimated split for one complete request, in calendar days, from complete to a screening decision — by hand (the sample utility's median was 31 days) and with the solution (the 1-day target).
Six agents read, check and screen every large-load request against the network; the transmission planner signs every capacity offer.
Lumina Utilities carries 14 open large-load requests for 3,855 MW against a 6.4 GW system peak. On Tue 13 Oct 2026, Kestrel Bay Data Partners' request for 300 MW at Harrow Ridge 230 kV — complete since 9 Oct — is next to screen. Here is what happens, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Amara's queue is ranked by readiness, in queue order under Schedule LL-1 §4.3. Seven requests score 70 or more for 875 MW; 2,170 MW scores under 50, with no site control, no deposit or duplicates. LL-2026-041, Kestrel Bay's Harrow Ridge Campus, asks 300 MW by Q4 2028 and is waiting to be screened.
“Everyone wants 300 MW by 2028. I need to know who is real before planning spends a month on them.”
Amara presses Screen request. The request reader takes 9 documents and 214 fields: 300 MW at Harrow Ridge 230 kV, ramp 60 → 150 → 300 MW by Q4 2028. The readiness checker finds 6 pass, 3 pending and 3 short. The duplicate detector and the tariff terms checker follow, then the headroom screener — each step logged with its time, from 10:02:06 to 10:03:15.
Readiness checker: “site option ends 31 Mar 2027; letter of credit $20.0M; no air permit for backup generators”
On the 2028 summer peak case, rev. 3 (N-1), Harrow Ridge has 120 MW for new load from Q2 2028, after the contracted Calder Valley Hydrogen load. The ramp is 30 MW above headroom in Q2 2028 and 180 MW short from Q4 2028, hatched red on the chart. The screener proposes three stages that follow the capital plan: 120 MW now, 240 MW with Harrow–Calder Line 2 in Q3 2029, 300 MW with autotransformer AT-2 in Q3 2030.
“The network cannot carry 300 MW in 2028. It can serve the ramp in three stages as the planned upgrades come in.”
Clicking Calder 345 kV on the map re-screens the request there: 360 MW of headroom at the end of 2028, but 350 MW held by requests ahead, so 10 MW free — and 18 km of new 345 kV line to reach it. Ardent AI's 450 MW at Harrow Ridge is earlier in time but missed its site-control date on 29 Sep, so it holds no capacity. Kestrel Bay's own transformer order covers 180 MW in 2028.
“Kestrel Bay's own transformer order covers 180 MW in 2028: the 300 MW step is ahead of its hardware.”
The shared large-load register shows record CV-2026-0188: parcel HR-0417, 212 acres, 300 MW, filed with Corvane Electric Cooperative on 3 Aug 2026 — a 0.94 match against a threshold of 0.85. The two site outlines differ by less than 20 metres. Kestrel Bay's disclosure in Part 7 of the application says “none”. The detector recommends asking for an explanation and keeping the request in screening.
“The detector flags; it never rejects.”
Twelve readiness checks and six tariff checks, each cited to its document and page. Site control: a purchase option on parcel HR-0417 that expires 31 Mar 2027, before the facilities study ends. Financial security: a $20.0M letter of credit against $65.7M needed for 300 MW, or $26.3M for a 120 MW first stage. Backup generation: 24 × 2.5 MW diesel sets, air permit not filed.
“Real enough to study as a staged request, not as 300 MW in 2028.”
Eligible at 300 MW against the 75 MW threshold; study deposit of $450,000 received 2 Oct; billing demand floor 80 % of contract capacity at $11.40 per kW-month — a $1.09M minimum bill a month for stage 1. Security is 24 months of minimum bills because the guarantor is not rated investment grade: $26.3M before stage 1, so Kestrel Bay is $6.3M short. Priya confirms the terms.
“Staging cuts the security needed now from $65.7M to $26.3M; the rest is due 90 days before each later stage.”
Amara sends the staged offer to Tomás with the basis — the 2028 summer peak case rev. 3 (N-1) and the capital plan — and a note: Kestrel Bay asks 300 MW by Q4 2028; Harrow Ridge has 120 MW. Tomás signs at 10:41. His signature reserves no capacity by itself: stage 1 is reserved when $26.3M of security is in place.
“Don't promise a megawatt I haven't seen in the case.”
The study agreement drafter has written the letter to Jonah Mercer, Kestrel Bay's project director, from the short and pending checks: site control through 30 Sep 2027, security of $26.3M for stage 1, an explanation of the request to another utility, and the air permit application for the backup generators — reply due Fri 13 Nov 2026. Amara reviews it and sends it herself.
“Drafted by the study agreement drafter · Amara reviews and sends · agents never write to a developer.”
The facilities study agreement is drafted from template SA-LL rev. 4 and the signed offer, with every clause that differs from the request marked: 300 MW by Q4 2028 becomes 120 MW in Q2 2028, 240 MW in Q3 2029 and 300 MW in Q3 2030; security before reservation falls from $65.7M to $26.3M. Tomás signed at 10:41, Priya confirmed the tariff terms at 10:52, and Helen approves at 11:03.
“This agreement reserves no capacity by itself.”
The same 300 MW request, seen by the four people at Lumina who screen, sign, price and approve it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six agents read, check and screen every large-load request against the network; the transmission planner signs every capacity offer.
Reads the application, ramp schedule, one-line diagram, site plan, site and finance documents and purchase orders, and extracts every field — applicant, parcel, point of delivery, contract capacity, ramp by quarter, load factor, equipment, security, disclosures — with its document and page.
Scores 12 readiness checks — site control, security, land use, equipment, water, generation, disclosure — out of 100, and flags dates that fall before the end of the study.
Matches parcel, site centroid, applicant family (including parent companies), megawatts, ramp and contact against Lumina's queue and the shared large-load register, flags matches at or above 0.85 and compares them with the applicant's disclosure.
Applies Schedule LL-1 for the request as asked and for any staged offer: eligibility, study deposit, minimum demand, security, term, exit fee and direct-assigned facilities, each line cited to its clause, with security held against needed.
Draws the ramp against substation headroom from the planning case in force (N-1) and the approved capital plan, removes load held ahead in the queue, finds the shortfall by quarter and proposes a staged ramp that follows the upgrade dates; compares the nearest alternative substations.
Drafts the facilities study agreement from template SA-LL rev. 4 and the signed offer, marking every clause that differs from the request, and drafts the missing-evidence letter from the short and pending checks, each with its clause.
Signs every capacity offer. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask in plain words — or say what to change. Every answer points to the planning case, the register or the schedule it came from.
Why can't Harrow Ridge take 300 MW in 2028?
Because it has 120 MW for new load from Q2 2028. The 2028 summer peak case (rev. 3, N-1) gives Harrow Ridge 135 MW on the existing network, and the contracted Calder Valley Hydrogen electrolyser takes 15 MW from Q2 2028. Line 2 adds 120 MW in Q3 2029 and AT-2 another 100 MW in Q3 2030. Kestrel Bay's 300 MW in Q4 2028 is 180 MW short, so the offer is staged: 120 MW now, 240 MW with Line 2, 300 MW with AT-2.
Has this site asked another utility for power?
Very likely. Register record CV-2026-0188 shows parcel HR-0417 and 300 MW filed with Corvane Electric Cooperative on 3 Aug 2026 — a 0.94 match. Kestrel Bay's application, Part 7, says “none”, and Schedule LL-1 §2.4 requires every such request to be disclosed. An explanation has been added to the missing-evidence letter; it is not a reason to reject on its own.
What security does the staged offer need?
$26.3M for stage 1. Schedule LL-1 §6 asks for 24 months of minimum bills unless the customer is rated investment grade: 120 MW × 80 % × $11.40 per kW-month × 24 = $26.27M. Kestrel Bay holds a $20.0M letter of credit, so it is $6.3M short. At the full 300 MW it would need $65.7M. Security for stages 2 and 3 is due 90 days before each stage.
Which requests are really ready?
7 of 14, for 875 MW of the 3,855 MW asked: Lumina Water's desalination stage 2 (92), Meridian Cooling (88), Pelham Logistics (85), Halcyon Edge (81), Tallis Cells (79), Northmoor Steel (75) and Solvane Hydrogen (71). Three requests for 2,050 MW score under 45 — Stonebridge, Brightwater and Ardent — with no site control, no deposit or duplicates elsewhere.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
The large-load tariff, the queue dates, the readiness line and the planning basis are settings — changes are logged in the audit trail.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility threshold | 75 MW | New or added load at one site, in MW — set from your large-load tariff |
| Study deposit | $150,000 + $1,000 per MW requested | Dollars per MW requested, on top of the fixed deposit |
| Billing demand floor and demand charge | 80 % · $11.40 per kW-month | Share of contract capacity billed at minimum, and the demand charge per kW-month |
| Security | 24 months of minimum bills | Months of minimum bills, unless the customer is rated investment grade |
| Site-control and deposit dates | 90 days · 30 days | Days from receipt; when a date is missed, draft a withdrawal notice for the account manager — On · Off |
| Ready line | 70 of 100 | Score at which a request counts as ready; check weights: site control 20, security 20, disclosure 10, land use 10, equipment 10, water 10, generation 10, forms 10 |
| Duplicate match threshold | 0.85 | Flag a register record at or above; the shared large-load register is read daily — On · Off |
| Planning case and criterion | 2028 summer peak · rev. 3 · N-1 | The case in use and its contingency; upgrade dates from the approved capital plan 2026–2031; offer a staged ramp when a request is above headroom — On · Off |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample utility data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our arithmetic, inputs shown ($13.1M = 120,000 kW × 80 % × $11.40 per kW-month × 12, on the demo tariff; the days split is our estimate around the sample utility's 31-day median from complete to screened) · “typical” = published figures (Utility Dive / Enverus, Dec 2025: AEP Ohio's queue fell from 30 GW to 13 GW after its data-centre tariff; ERCOT interconnection and grid analysis update and Senate testimony, 2026: 474.7 GW of large-load requests by June 2026, about 90 % data centres). Regulatory context: Texas SB 6 (2025) sets standards for new loads above 75 MW, including site control and disclosure of similar requests. Lumina Utilities, its Schedule LL-1, substations, developers, sites and the people named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
It is the work of taking a large-load connection request — a data centre, hydrogen plant, cooling plant or industrial load asking for tens or hundreds of megawatts — and deciding whether it is real and what the network can serve before a costly study starts. Large Load Interconnection Intake does it with six agents that read the file, score readiness, look for the same site at other utilities, apply the large-load tariff and screen the ramp against substation headroom. The transmission planner signs every capacity offer.
The headroom screener reads the planning case in force and the approved capital plan, removes load held ahead in the queue and plots the requested ramp against the substation's headroom quarter by quarter, with the upgrades marked. In the sample case Harrow Ridge has 120 MW from Q2 2028, so a 300 MW ramp by Q4 2028 is 180 MW short. It can re-screen the same request at another substation for comparison.
Where the ramp outruns the network, the screener proposes stages that follow the upgrade dates instead of a plain no. For Kestrel Bay that is 120 MW on the existing network, 240 MW when Line 2 is in service in Q3 2029 and 300 MW after AT-2 in Q3 2030. The security is recalculated for the first stage — $26.3M instead of $65.7M — and the offer goes to the planner to sign.
The readiness checker scores 12 checks out of 100 — site control, security, land use, equipment, water, generation and disclosure — and passes a check only with a dated, signed document. The duplicate detector matches parcel, site, applicant family and megawatts against the shared large-load register and compares them with the developer's disclosure. It flags and asks; it never rejects.
Yes. The tariff terms checker applies your schedule — eligibility, study deposit, minimum demand, security, term, exit fee and direct-assigned facilities — for the request as asked and for any staged offer, each line cited to its clause. It never waives or changes a term, and your tariff analyst confirms the calculation.
Yes. The agents read, check, calculate and draft; they never reserve capacity, waive a tariff term, reject a request or write to a developer. The transmission planner signs every capacity offer, the tariff analyst confirms the terms, the director approves the study agreement and only the account manager sends.
Yes. The eligibility threshold, deposit, billing demand floor, demand charge, security months, term and ramp, site-control and deposit dates, the ready line and check weights, the duplicate match threshold, the planning case and contingency criterion, and who signs and sends are all settings, and every change is logged.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your large-load tariff, application form, queue rules, planning case and study agreement template — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on a sample of your own requests first.
Complete or deficient in minutes, not days.
1-min demoUtility NOC Application ProcessingEvery NOC checked against every asset buffer, issued inside 2 working days.
1-min demoElectrical Drawing ApprovalClause-cited comments on day one, not after resubmission.
1-min demoWe'll run Large Load Interconnection Intake on a sample of your own large-load requests, your tariff and your planning case.