WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright this week directed federal energy regulators to consider a rule aimed at speeding up the connection of power-hungry data centers to electric grids.

Wright sent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a rule on Thursday that allows customers to file joint, co-located load and generation interconnection requests. The energy department said the rule would reduce study times and costs for improving the grid, while reducing the time needed for additional power to come online. The rule also pushes FERC to mull whether reviews for grid projects, which sometimes take years, can be done in 60 days.

As U.S. power demand spikes for the first time in two decades on artificial intelligence, President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to

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