How Milliseconds Can Determine Megawatts: DCM and the CHILLS Opportunity in spp
On June 5, 2026, FERC approved SPP's Conditional High Impact Large Load Service (CHILLS), giving data centers and other large loads access to available transmission capacity for up to seven years while they work toward firm interconnection service. For large loads that have been waiting on network upgrades, this is a meaningful path forward. At its core, CHILLS is a safety framework. Loads must agree to be curtailed in the event of a grid emergency, where there is an unforeseen threat to the reliability of the transmission system. A load that cannot respond fast enough to resolve such an event becomes a liability to every customer on the system. Splight's Dynamic Congestion Management (DCM) is the technology that converts that liability into a reliability asset, and in doing so unlocks the full capacity value CHILLS makes available. A CHILLS customer with DCM is studied against the full physical capacity of the infrastructure, because the contingency reserve is provided by the load's own automatic response. The result is additional, real, allocatable, firm megawatts.
On June 5, 2026, FERC approved SPP's Conditional High Impact Large Load Service (CHILLS), giving data centers and other large loads access to available transmission capacity for up to seven years while they work toward firm interconnection service. For large loads that have been waiting on network upgrades, this is a meaningful path forward. At its core, CHILLS is a safety framework. Loads must agree to be curtailed in the event of a grid emergency, where there is an unforeseen threat to the reliability of the transmission system. A load that cannot respond fast enough to resolve such an event becomes a liability to every customer on the system. Splight's Dynamic Congestion Management (DCM) is the technology that converts that liability into a reliability asset, and in doing so unlocks the full capacity value CHILLS makes available. A CHILLS customer with DCM is studied against the full physical capacity of the infrastructure, because the contingency reserve is provided by the load's own automatic response. The result is additional, real, allocatable, firm megawatts.
Splight was founded in 2021 by a group of colleagues working in the utility sector. Frustrated by the issue of grid congestion, the resulting curtailment of clean energy, and the adverse impact on interconnection queues, they began exploring ways to unlock the grid’s potential. Their solution was a revolutionary transmission technology: a 21st century operating system for a 20th century machine, made possible by various advancements in telecommunications, computing, and renewable energy over recent decades.
Today, Splight is dedicated to solving the grid’s toughest challenges. By combining innovation with practical expertise, the company is enabling a future where renewable energy flows freely, grid bottlenecks are eliminated, and new renewable and flexible load projects connect seamlessly to the existing power network. At Splight, the goal isn’t just to imagine a better grid it’s to build it. Commercially trusted by transmission owners, renewable generators, and system
operators worldwide.
WHAT CHILLS provides
CHILLS gives qualifying high-impact large loads a conditional bridge to firm transmission service. To receive it, a load must meet two primary requirements that work together but serve different purposes.
The first requirement is to carry supporting generation. Under the tariff, a CHILLS customer must have sufficient generation resources to cover its total load. This is a resource adequacy requirement: it ensures the load has a generation backstop before it draws on the bulk system.
The second is to accept curtailment across a defined set of conditions. CHILLS sits below all firm transmission service in priority and can be curtailed for transmission system constraints and for emergency conditions. Loads must respond to curtailment instructions, ramp down to the instructed level within the time specified in the Market Protocols and comply with directives under their CHILLS Operating Agreement.
The generation requirement answers the resource adequacy question: is there enough energy to serve this load? The curtailment obligation answers the transmission reliability question: can the system stay within its operating limits when a contingency occurs?
Traditional demand flexibility programs address the first question well. DCM is built specifically to address the second.
CHILLS gives qualifying high-impact large loads a conditional bridge to firm transmission service. To receive it, a load must meet two primary requirements that work together but serve different purposes.
The first requirement is to carry supporting generation. Under the tariff, a CHILLS customer must have sufficient generation resources to cover its total load. This is a resource adequacy requirement: it ensures the load has a generation backstop before it draws on the bulk system.
The second is to accept curtailment across a defined set of conditions. CHILLS sits below all firm transmission service in priority and can be curtailed for transmission system constraints and for emergency conditions. Loads must respond to curtailment instructions, ramp down to the instructed level within the time specified in the Market Protocols and comply with directives under their CHILLS Operating Agreement.
The generation requirement answers the resource adequacy question: is there enough energy to serve this load? The curtailment obligation answers the transmission reliability question: can the system stay within its operating limits when a contingency occurs?
Traditional demand flexibility programs address the first question well. DCM is built specifically to address the second.
Splight was founded in 2021 by a group of colleagues working in the utility sector. Frustrated by the issue of grid congestion, the resulting curtailment of clean energy, and the adverse impact on interconnection queues, they began exploring ways to unlock the grid’s potential. Their solution was a revolutionary transmission technology: a 21st century operating system for a 20th century machine, made possible by various advancements in telecommunications, computing, and renewable energy over recent decades.
Today, Splight is dedicated to solving the grid’s toughest challenges. By combining innovation with practical expertise, the company is enabling a future where renewable energy flows freely, grid bottlenecks are eliminated, and new renewable and flexible load projects connect seamlessly to the existing power network. At Splight, the goal isn’t just to imagine a better grid it’s to build it. Commercially trusted by transmission owners, renewable generators, and system
operators worldwide.
Where standard flexibility leaves headroom on the table
Most demand flexibility programs operate on timescales measured in minutes. A load that reduces consumption when prices spike, when a curtailment notice arrives, or when an emergency is declared contributes real value to resource adequacy and supports the kind of price-adaptive framework SPP is separately developing. That is a good thing, but what it does not do is protect transmission in the seconds and even sub-seconds leading up to and following a contingency event.
CHILLS service is explicitly subject to curtailment during “Emergency Conditions,” which under SPP's tariff means conditions threatening to impair or degrade reliability of the transmission system. The curtailment processes required under the tariff must be capable of responding when such conditions arise. Standard demand flexibility was built for a different operating regime and is not positioned to meet that standard.
Most demand flexibility programs operate on timescales measured in minutes. A load that reduces consumption when prices spike, when a curtailment notice arrives, or when an emergency is declared contributes real value to resource adequacy and supports the kind of price-adaptive framework SPP is separately developing. That is a good thing, but what it does not do is protect transmission in the seconds and even sub-seconds leading up to and following a contingency event.
CHILLS service is explicitly subject to curtailment during “Emergency Conditions,” which under SPP's tariff means conditions threatening to impair or degrade reliability of the transmission system. The curtailment processes required under the tariff must be capable of responding when such conditions arise. Standard demand flexibility was built for a different operating regime and is not positioned to meet that standard.
Splight was founded in 2021 by a group of colleagues working in the utility sector. Frustrated by the issue of grid congestion, the resulting curtailment of clean energy, and the adverse impact on interconnection queues, they began exploring ways to unlock the grid’s potential. Their solution was a revolutionary transmission technology: a 21st century operating system for a 20th century machine, made possible by various advancements in telecommunications, computing, and renewable energy over recent decades.
Today, Splight is dedicated to solving the grid’s toughest challenges. By combining innovation with practical expertise, the company is enabling a future where renewable energy flows freely, grid bottlenecks are eliminated, and new renewable and flexible load projects connect seamlessly to the existing power network. At Splight, the goal isn’t just to imagine a better grid it’s to build it. Commercially trusted by transmission owners, renewable generators, and system
operators worldwide.
Where DCM Comes in
Splight's Dynamic Congestion Management (DCM) monitors real-time transmission system conditions and automatically modulates load in response to detected or anticipated system events, without waiting for an operator directive or a market signal. It responds to the physics of the transmission system as it is happening, in milliseconds.
When a large load equipped with DCM (a Fast-Responding Load) is studied for interconnection, it can be treated as a reliability resource that provides a layer of digital redundancy on top of the existing protection schemes. That modeling change allows the transmission system to be operated up to its full physical capacity because the reserve physical capacity that would otherwise have to be held idle to protect the system is now provided by the Fast-Responding Load itself.
The result is that a load with DCM does not simply satisfy the curtailment condition in CHILLS. It converts that condition into a controlled, measurable, and reliable technical capability. That is a different kind of assurance than a curtailment agreement alone provides.
Splight's Dynamic Congestion Management (DCM) monitors real-time transmission system conditions and automatically modulates load in response to detected or anticipated system events, without waiting for an operator directive or a market signal. It responds to the physics of the transmission system as it is happening, in milliseconds.
When a large load equipped with DCM (a Fast-Responding Load) is studied for interconnection, it can be treated as a reliability resource that provides a layer of digital redundancy on top of the existing protection schemes. That modeling change allows the transmission system to be operated up to its full physical capacity because the reserve physical capacity that would otherwise have to be held idle to protect the system is now provided by the Fast-Responding Load itself.
The result is that a load with DCM does not simply satisfy the curtailment condition in CHILLS. It converts that condition into a controlled, measurable, and reliable technical capability. That is a different kind of assurance than a curtailment agreement alone provides.
Splight was founded in 2021 by a group of colleagues working in the utility sector. Frustrated by the issue of grid congestion, the resulting curtailment of clean energy, and the adverse impact on interconnection queues, they began exploring ways to unlock the grid’s potential. Their solution was a revolutionary transmission technology: a 21st century operating system for a 20th century machine, made possible by various advancements in telecommunications, computing, and renewable energy over recent decades.
Today, Splight is dedicated to solving the grid’s toughest challenges. By combining innovation with practical expertise, the company is enabling a future where renewable energy flows freely, grid bottlenecks are eliminated, and new renewable and flexible load projects connect seamlessly to the existing power network. At Splight, the goal isn’t just to imagine a better grid it’s to build it. Commercially trusted by transmission owners, renewable generators, and system
operators worldwide.
the path to firm service
CHILLS service runs for up to seven years, during which the load must work toward firm transmission service. The conventional path is to wait for network upgrades to be constructed and placed in service. DCM creates an alternative timeline. Because a DCM-equipped load can demonstrate fast-responding, contingency-safe behavior from the date of interconnection, it provides the technical basis on which firm or near-firm service can be studied without waiting for physical infrastructure to catch up.
CHILLS is a great framework for getting large loads online quickly. Splight’s DCM is the technology that lets those loads stay online when it matters most, and move toward permanent firm service on a schedule that reflects the capabilities of the load rather than the pace of transmission construction.
CHILLS service runs for up to seven years, during which the load must work toward firm transmission service. The conventional path is to wait for network upgrades to be constructed and placed in service. DCM creates an alternative timeline. Because a DCM-equipped load can demonstrate fast-responding, contingency-safe behavior from the date of interconnection, it provides the technical basis on which firm or near-firm service can be studied without waiting for physical infrastructure to catch up.
CHILLS is a great framework for getting large loads online quickly. Splight’s DCM is the technology that lets those loads stay online when it matters most, and move toward permanent firm service on a schedule that reflects the capabilities of the load rather than the pace of transmission construction.
Splight was founded in 2021 by a group of colleagues working in the utility sector. Frustrated by the issue of grid congestion, the resulting curtailment of clean energy, and the adverse impact on interconnection queues, they began exploring ways to unlock the grid’s potential. Their solution was a revolutionary transmission technology: a 21st century operating system for a 20th century machine, made possible by various advancements in telecommunications, computing, and renewable energy over recent decades.
Today, Splight is dedicated to solving the grid’s toughest challenges. By combining innovation with practical expertise, the company is enabling a future where renewable energy flows freely, grid bottlenecks are eliminated, and new renewable and flexible load projects connect seamlessly to the existing power network. At Splight, the goal isn’t just to imagine a better grid it’s to build it. Commercially trusted by transmission owners, renewable generators, and system
operators worldwide.
We unlock energy grids by combining real-time data with AI to unlock multiples of usable transmission capacity and enhance reliability. Our advanced transmission technology addresses critical grid challenges more effectively and with faster deployments than existing alternatives.
Use Cases
For Transmission Owners
Splight offices
HQ
U.S., San Francisco
50 Francisco St, Suite 203 San Francisco, CA 94133
U.S., Austin
201 W. 5th Street, Suite 1600
Austin, TX 78701
Chile, Santiago
Cerro El Plomo 5855 Oficina 705 Las Condes, SGO 7561160
Madrid, España
Paseo de la Castellana, 43, Chamberí, 28046
© 2026 Splight Inc. All rights reserved
We unlock energy grids by combining real-time data with AI to unlock multiples of usable transmission capacity and enhance reliability. Our advanced transmission technology addresses critical grid challenges more effectively and with faster deployments than existing alternatives.
Use Cases
For Transmission Owners
Splight offices
HQ
U.S., San Francisco
50 Francisco St, Suite 203 San Francisco, CA 94133
U.S., Austin
201 W. 5th Street, Suite 1600
Austin, TX 78701
Chile, Santiago
Cerro El Plomo 5855 Oficina 705 Las Condes, SGO 7561160
Madrid, España
Paseo de la Castellana, 43, Chamberí, 28046
© 2026 Splight Inc. All rights reserved
We unlock energy grids by combining real-time data with AI to unlock multiples of usable transmission capacity and enhance reliability. Our advanced transmission technology addresses critical grid challenges more effectively and with faster deployments than existing alternatives.
Use Cases
For Transmission Owners
Splight offices
HQ
U.S., San Francisco
50 Francisco St, Suite 203 San Francisco, CA 94133
U.S., Austin
201 W. 5th Street, Suite 1600
Austin, TX 78701
Chile, Santiago
Cerro El Plomo 5855 Oficina 705 Las Condes, SGO 7561160
Madrid, España
Paseo de la Castellana, 43, Chamberí, 28046
© 2026 Splight Inc. All rights reserved