encoord launches SAInt 3.9 as FERC pushes grid operators to speed large-load hookups

encoord has released SAInt 3.9 as FERC orders six U.S. grid operators to justify or rewrite large-load interconnection rules within 60 days and report on generation sufficiency within 30 days. The move puts integrated planning software at the center of a national push to connect data centers and other big loads faster without weakening reliability or shifting costs.

Why it matters: - FERC’s June 18 orders could reshape how utilities and regional grid operators approve large loads such as data centers. - The key test is whether new demand can connect in years instead of decades without undermining reliability or shifting costs to other customers. - encoord is positioning SAInt 3.9 as software built for the modeling and analysis behind those decisions.

What happened: - encoord released version 3.9 of SAInt, its integrated planning platform, on June 22. - FERC ordered PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, ISO-NE and NYISO to justify or reform large-load interconnection rules under section 206 of the Federal Power Act. - Each grid operator has 60 days to defend its tariff or file changes. - FERC also gave the operators 30 days to show how they will ensure enough generation for large loads.

The details: - FERC’s orders set out five reform categories and leave each region to design its own solution. - SAInt already performs study-process streamlining, capacity expansion planning, security-constrained production cost modeling, AC power flow and contingency analysis on one model. - SAInt models the economic and reliability impacts of alternative transmission technologies, or ATTs, in the same run. - SAInt quantifies the full value of a transmission investment, including economic and reliability effects, and traces costs to the loads that drive them. - SAInt also supports flexible interconnection studies for co-located generation, behind-the-meter generation, flexible large loads and generation serving electrically proximate loads. - SAInt represents the generation resources and the wires they connect to, showing how generation affects both transmission and generation planning. - SAInt 3.9 deepens the way available resources and reserves are represented across the year so economics and reliability stay aligned. - The updated software can show how a data center paired with on-site generation changes transmission upgrade needs and system reliability during peak conditions. - encoord says a free trial is available at encoord community trial. - encoord says the team is offering demonstrations for system operators, utilities and reliability organizations.

Between the lines: - FERC’s action is not just a policy shift; it is an analytics problem, because each reform area requires defensible modeling of costs, reliability and generation adequacy. - SAInt 3.9 is aimed at that gap, not at drafting tariffs or setting policy. - encoord says the software helps operators make faster decisions with one model instead of separate studies that can produce inconsistent results. - A 2025 study co-authored by encoord, Camus Energy and Princeton University’s ZERO Lab, and funded by Google, found flexible data centers could connect three to five years sooner than conventional large loads while using grid power more than 99% of the time. - The study said on-site resources would be needed only 40 to 70 hours a year.

What’s next: - On July 8, CEO Carlo Brancucci and Chief Product Officer Wallace Kenyon will present “Flexible interconnection studies powered by SAInt” at FERC’s technical conference in Washington. - The presentation comes as grid operators start responding to FERC’s orders and deciding how to translate the directive into tariffs and study processes. - encoord is offering SAInt 3.9 now to system operators, utilities and reliability organizations evaluating integrated economic and reliability planning.

The bottom line: - FERC wants faster large-load hookups, and the winning approach will likely depend on whether operators can prove the grid can handle them with rigorous, integrated analysis.