Data Center Grid Compliance: When the Power Customer Becomes the Regulated Entity

Jo Ann Biggs, Partner | Vinson & Elkins LLP

Jo Ann Biggs is a Partner in the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins LLP. She counsels regulated entities and entities that wish to own regulated assets related to energy in Texas and represents them in front of state and federal regulators.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Biggs earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1983, where she served as Managing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. She holds a B.A. in English from Hendrix College, awarded in 1980, and was elected to Alpha Chi. She is admitted to practice in Texas.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chambers USA has ranked her in Energy: State Regulatory & Litigation (Electricity) in Texas every year from 2015 through 2026. The Best Lawyers in America has listed her in Public Utility Law for 2005 and 2006, in Energy Law from 2007 through 2027, and in both Energy Regulatory Law and Oil and Gas Law from 2022 through 2027, and named her “Lawyer of the Year” for Energy Law in Dallas/Fort Worth in 2016 and for Energy Regulatory Law in 2025. Legal 500 U.S. has recognized her in Energy Regulation: Electric Power from 2019 through 2024 and again in 2026. She was named to D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas” for Litigation in 2012, appeared in Legal Media Group’s Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Energy and Natural Resource Lawyers in 2016, and was selected to Texas Super Lawyers from 2006 through 2008.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Biggs chairs the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee at Hendrix College, roles she has held since 2020, and previously chaired the college’s Academic Affairs and Enrollment Committee from 2007 to 2020 and served on its Presidential Search Committee in 2013. She sat on the Governing Council of the State Bar of Texas Public Utility Law Section from 2002 to 2004 and on the National Alumni Board of Vanderbilt University School of Law from 1999 to 2002. Her community service includes the board of St. Philip’s School & Community Center from 2005 to 2009 and the governing board of the East Dallas Cooperative Parish from 1993 to 1997, where she served as president in 1995 and 1996. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the Dallas Bar Association.

• Experience

She represents clients in complex matters decided in bench trials in administrative and civil forums. She also assists clients in meeting federal electric (NERC) reliability standards, helping them navigate compliance audits and reconcile potential non-compliance issues. In addition, Jo Ann advises parties to transactions that touch regulated, energy related assets.

Jeffrey Jakubiak, Partner | Vinson & Elkins LLP

Jeffrey Jakubiak is a Partner in the New York City and Washington, DC offices of Vinson & Elkins LLP. He counsels clients regarding a broad variety of electric, natural gas, and oil matters at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Jakubiak received his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1997, where he was a Board Editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy and an Olin Foundation Law and Economics Scholar. He earned a B.A. with honors in quantitative economics from Stanford University in 1993. He is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chambers Global has ranked him in Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation) in the United States from 2024 through 2026, and its guide carried him in the same category from 2020 through 2022. Chambers USA has recognized him in its Energy: Electricity categories from 2016 through 2023 and again from 2024 through 2026. The Best Lawyers in America has listed him in Energy Law in New York from 2023 through 2027. Lawdragon has named him among its 500 Leading Energy Lawyers from 2023 through 2026, and Legal 500 U.S. has recognized him in its energy litigation and regulation categories from 2023 through 2025.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Jakubiak serves on the Board of Directors of the Northeast Chapter of the Energy Bar Association and is a member of the Energy Bar Association. He has authored articles presented at the annual meetings of the International Association for Energy Economics.

• Experience

His practice focuses on matters at the crossroads of law and economics, particularly energy transactions, cost-of-service ratemaking, electric company mergers and power sales, energy market manipulation, and the workings of energy markets. He has a deep understanding of the methodologies used by FERC to set returns on equity and to analyze generation market power, and has developed proprietary quantitative analytical tools that he uses to advise clients on electric asset transactions, market-based rate authorizations, and litigation risk.

Christopher J. (C.J.) Polito, Partner | Vinson & Elkins LLP

Christopher J. (C.J.) Polito is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of Vinson & Elkins LLP. C.J. represents clients on a variety of regulatory, enforcement, compliance and transactional matters involving the U.S. wholesale electricity markets.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Polito earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 2009, where he was an editor of the Duke Law Journal and received the James S. Bidlake Memorial Award. He holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University, awarded in 2006, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Illinois.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chambers USA has ranked him in Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation) on a nationwide basis from 2021 through 2026, and Chambers Global has recognized him in the same category in the United States from 2022 through 2026; the 2025 editions describe him as “fast, pragmatic and insightful” and as “very communicative” with “great work product.” Best Lawyers named him to its “Ones to Watch” list for Energy Law in 2022, and Super Lawyers selected him as a “Rising Star” in Energy & Natural Resources in Washington in 2019 and 2020.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Polito is a member of the Energy Bar Association and writes regularly on federal energy regulation for the trade and legal press. His recent articles include “FERC Order Opens Wholesale Power Markets to DERs” in POWER Magazine (January 2021), “What is ‘Resilience’, and Do We Need It?” (August 2018) and “Grid Reliability and Resilience: FERC’s Rulemaking and How Our Energy Markets Are Responding” (June 2018) in the same publication, “‘Basic Fairness’ And The Future Of FERC Enforcement Proceedings” (May 2017) and “How Trump’s Moves Will Widen The Federal-State Divide Over Energy Market Regulation” (February 2017) in Forbes, and “What’s Next After the Aspire Commodities Ruling?” in The National Law Journal (May 2016).

• Experience

C.J.’s practice focuses on federal energy regulatory matters related to the development, ownership and operation of electric generation and transmission projects. He counsels clients on energy regulatory issues related to various types of transactions involving electric projects. C.J. also advises clients on wholesale market participation rules and ongoing compliance with applicable Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirements.

Winston Skinner, Partner | Vinson & Elkins LLP

Winston Skinner is a Partner in the Austin office of Vinson & Elkins LLP. He helps clients navigate all aspects of Texas regulation involving energy infrastructure.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Skinner received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2011. He earned a B.A. in political science, summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University in 2008 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is admitted to practice in Texas and holds an inactive license in Louisiana. Following law school he served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable James J. Brady of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana from 2011 to 2012.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chambers USA recognized him in 2026 in Energy: State Regulatory & Litigation (Electricity) in Texas, and previously listed him as “Up and Coming” in the electricity category for 2024 and 2025 and in the oil and gas category from 2023 through 2026. The Best Lawyers in America named him “Lawyer of the Year” for Energy Law in Austin for 2027, listed him in Energy Law in Austin for 2027 and in Dallas from 2022 through 2026, and recognized him in Energy Regulatory Law for 2026 and 2027. He was a co-recipient of the firm’s 2013 Juvenile Pro Bono Award for representation in the Dallas County truancy courts.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Skinner is a member of the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, Texas Utilities Lawyers, and the Texas Chapter of the Energy Bar Association. He is a listed participant in the continuing legal education program “Structuring a Data Center,” scheduled for September 1, 2026.

• Experience

He represents developers, lenders, sponsors, and investors in electric generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, including commercial agreements for the development of electric infrastructure and the purchase and sale of electricity within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. He represents clients in a wide variety of matters, including certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN), change-in-control, complaint, investigation, rate, registration, rulemaking, and tariff proceedings, before the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), ERCOT, and Texas courts.

SESSION 1 – Preparing Data Center Clients for Mandatory NERC Registration and Reliability Standards | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session examines the emerging mandatory NERC registration framework for computational load entities—primarily data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities—triggered by FERC’s July 16, 2026 directive in Docket No. RD26-7-000 and NERC’s Project 2026-02 standards development process. Attorneys will learn how to assess whether a client crosses the proposed 20 MW/60 kV/1 MW registration threshold, how to allocate compliance obligations across multi-party facility structures, and how to build a foundational NERC compliance program for clients with no prior reliability regulatory experience. Attendees will leave able to advise data center owners, operators, tenants, and financiers on immediate risk-mitigation steps before the December 31, 2026 standards-filing deadline.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Interconnecting Data Centers Under the New Ride-Through and Curtailment Rules | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session examines the federal and state regulatory framework now governing how data centers interconnect to the bulk power grid, with emphasis on FERC’s June 2026 show cause orders, the PJM colocation template, and Texas SB 6’s mandatory curtailment regime. Attorneys will learn how ride-through requirements, curtailment hierarchies, and new transmission service tiers translate into negotiable contract terms and project-level risk. Participants leave with a working framework for advising data center clients on interconnection agreement strategy across multiple RTOs under conditions of active regulatory flux.