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week of Oct. 2, 2026

The EnerKnol Week Ahead is back to give you the key energy policy events happening next week, all powered by the EnerKnol Platform. Coming up, the U.S. Energy Department considers measures to implement an executive order on protecting the bulk-power system from security threats associated with foreign-supplied electrical equipment and technology; the New York Public Service Commission advances its Nuclear Reliability Backbone initiative, which could support up to 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power generation; and Colorado regulators propose updates to distribution system planning and interconnection requirements.

Featured Entities

BLM

Colorado PUC

Delaware PSC

DOE

EIA

Kansas CC

New York PSC

Puerto Rico EB

Federal Agencies

Monday,
October 5
DOE Innovative Energy Technologies

The U.S. Energy Department seeks input on investor interest in the development and commercialization of subsurface energy technologies. DOE’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office, in collaboration with the Office of Technology Commercialization, issued a request for information on opportunities to better connect private capital and public-private partnership programs with coal, oil and gas, and geothermal energy technologies. The effort builds on the Small Business Investment Company-Energy Initiative that is designed to mobilize private capital for U.S. energy technologies and businesses.

Tuesday,
October 6
EIA U.S. Energy Outlook

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its Short-Term Energy Outlook, which provides forecasts for energy supply, demand, and prices. U.S. electricity sales are expected to grow by 2 percent in 2026 and by an additional 2 percent in 2027, with total electricity consumption reaching 4,211 billion kilowatthours in 2027, according to the agency’s latest short-term outlook. Electricity consumption is projected to reach record levels, driven by data center development and increased manufacturing activity. Although Texas has paused the connection of new data center projects to facilitate a regulatory audit of proposed projects, EIA projects that the West South Central region accounts for the largest share of electricity sales growth, representing nearly 20 percent of nationwide growth in 2026 and 40 percent in 2027.

Friday,
October 9
DOE Bulk-Power System Security

The U.S. Energy Department seeks information to implement Executive Order 14421, which declared a national emergency to protect the U.S. bulk-power system from security threats associated with foreign-supplied electrical equipment and technology. The order, issued in August, identifies risks such as digital backdoors, malicious remote access, cyber exploitation, and supply chain vulnerabilities, which are intensified by rising energy demand from AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing. The order directed the Secretary of Energy to address transactions, existing equipment, mitigation, licensing, prequalification, and federal procurement of such equipment.

Friday,
October 9
BLM Oil and Gas Development

The Bureau of Land Management seeks comments on a joint planning process with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe to guide future development of tribal trust oil and gas resources within a 110,000-acre planning area on the tribe’s reservation in southwestern Colorado. The anticipated development would take place in the Mancos Shale Formation, approximately 7,000 feet below the surface in the San Juan Basin. The planning area that is the subject of the BLM decision-making includes 64,000 acres of tribal trust minerals. The bureau’s planning decision pertains to the development of the tribal trust minerals within the area and the associated environmental effects. The planning effort supports the tribe’s long-term management of its trust mineral resources and helps fulfill the federal government’s trust obligations to the tribe.

Eastern Region

Monday,
October 5
PR EB Puerto Rico Interconnection Regulation

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau seeks comments on updated draft language for interconnection regulations applicable to distributed generation, community solar, and microgrids. The updated language addresses three areas: interconnection requirements for systems less than 25 kW; cost allocation of upgrades associated with electric systems less than 25 kW; and meter socket adapters. The bureau held stakeholder workshops in August and September to evaluate and address comments on its revised preliminary draft issued in July. The revised version follows stakeholder feedback on the preliminary draft, including input from LUMA, the Independent Consumer Protection Office, and the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico. CEPR-MI-2018-0008

Monday,
October 5
DE PSC Delmarva Power Rate Case

The Delaware Public Service Commission seeks comments on Delmarva Power & Light Company’s proposed increase in annual electric distribution revenues. The company is requesting a $75.8 million increase in annual distribution revenues, a 24.25 percent increase over existing base rates. The proposal includes new riders related to bad debt recovery, low-income customer rate discounts, and revenue decoupling. The commission has allowed Delmarva to place half of the increase into effect on an interim basis, subject to refund with interest. The full increase would add about $11.63 a month to the average residential customer’s bill. 25-1555

Monday,
October 5
NY PSC Nuclear Reliability Backbone

The New York Public Service Commission will hold a technical conference to inform a white paper addressing issues associated with the development of a Nuclear Reliability Backbone, or NRB, framework that could support up to 5 gigawatts of new nuclear generation in the state. The commission will examine issues considered in a complementary Advanced Nuclear Policy Options Paper, which evaluates financing mechanisms, technology selection, procurement approaches, and barriers to commercial viability for new nuclear projects. The NRB proceeding, initiated in June, aims to evaluate policy, regulatory, and financial pathways for bringing advanced nuclear resources online, including ways to coordinate transmission, non-nuclear generation, and nuclear procurements to maximize ratepayer benefits. 26-E-0335

Western Region

Wednesday,
October 7
CO PUC Distribution Planning and Interconnection Rules

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will hold a public comment hearing to discuss proposed amendments to its electric rules concerning distribution system planning and interconnection requirements. The proposal responds to 2024 legislation (Senate Bill 24-218), which directed the commission to open a rulemaking after its final decision on a qualifying utility’s first distribution system planning filing and address certain requirements, including establishing energization timelines, updating interconnection rules, and setting customer cost caps or fees for the interconnection or energization of resources. The rulemaking will also address statutory changes under the recently enacted House Bill 26-1225 aimed at fostering distributed energy resources. 26R-0295E

Friday,
October 9
KS CC Holcomb-Sidney Transmission Line

The Kansas Corporation Commission seeks comments on an application from Sunflower Electric and ITC Great Plains for approval to site a 180-mile transmission line across eight counties in western Kansas, running from the Holcomb Substation near Garden City to an interconnection point near the Kansas-Colorado border. The line will extend through Colorado to the Sidney Substation in western Nebraska. The project is part of an approximately 360-mile regional transmission line extending from Holcomb, Kansas, to Sidney, Nebraska, developed as part of a regional effort to strengthen the electric grid and improve reliability during extreme weather events following severe winter storms, including Winter Storm Uri in 2021 and Winter Storm Elliott in 2022, which exposed vulnerabilities in the region’s power grid.

20+ million filings pulled from the comprehensive universe of federal, regional and state energy regulators and legislatures.

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