FERC to unveil US power grid reform on May 13

April 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will announce on May 13 its plan to speed up the development of long-distance transmission lines to meet rising power demand and bring a backlog of planned clean energy projects to the grid.

The long-awaited plan is part of reforms to upgrade the country's aging electric transmission system to keep up with power demand and a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Last July, FERC set out proposals to speed up the connection of new power projects to the grid, seeking to address a growing backlog of requests from wind and solar energy developers.

Interconnection bottlenecks have blocked the development of thousands of gigawatts of new renewable energy, which is central to the Biden administration's plans to decarbonize the power sector by 2035 and ease U.S. reliance on coal and natural gas for generating electricity.

FERC on Thursday issued a notice for a special meeting on May 13 to discuss transmission matters, which have moved up the political agenda amid surging demand for electricity from data centers and AI development. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Valerie Volcovici in Washington)