Released July 09, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Issues with data-center-engendered electric grid load growth are common themes. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has estimated that load growth from data centers has tripled over the past decade and is projected to further double or triple by 2028. For more on that, see July 1, 2025, article - EIA: U.S. Data Center Power Demand to More Than Triple by 2050.
In a recent webinar, four industry experts discussed problems and solutions involved in keeping the grid safe and reliable in view of exploding growth.
The need for expanding the grid is obvious, but managing the speed of change requires many layers of interaction, Ishreet Kaur of National Grid plc (London, England), an electric and gas utility in the northeast U.S. and the U.K., said at Reuters' "Inside the Load Growth Puzzle" webinar. "You have tech that's moving at the speed of light, and then you have utilities that have to make do with the processes of how we've done things so far." That goes for planning, permitting and building out, he said.
Kaur suggested collaboration between customers, data centers and grid operators to simplify the processes.
On the same wavelength was Chris Sharp of Digital Realty (Austin, Texas), which operates more than 300 data centers worldwide. He said the density of power demand from data centers will "require something different" regarding planning and procedures "to really understand how to ride this wave and not be disrupted."
Backlogs and Bottlenecks
Webinar host Hadia Sheerazi, of the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute (Basalt, Colorado)--which seeks to manage and support power growth--pointed to a 2024 Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory study showing that "there's about 2.6 terawatts (of grid capacity) patiently waiting to come online, which is twice the size of the entire existing U.S. grid."
Kaur said this interconnection queue started soon after the artificial intelligence (AI) boom began, and that prioritizing the needs between giant data centers and small pads for electric vehicle (EV) chargers is now needed.
For Xcel Energy Incorporated (Minneapolis, Minnesota), which provides power in eight midwestern states, Xcel IT Director Marcus Johansson said the company is looking at the big picture, in what it calls "intelligent queue management and robust scenario planning." Instead of the old method of running wires on a first-come, first-serve basis, Xcel is working with developers to determine which projects are most likely to actually be completed, and on what schedules, so as not to expend resources on new loads that may not materialize.
And Xcel has expanded its categories of demand.
"In the past we used to do residential, commercial or small commercial-large commercial," Johansson said. "Now we are doing segmentation within our commercial customers. Are these data center loads? Are these EV heat loads? Then going at the localized level to do that multi scenario planning of low-demand, medium-demand, high-demand forecasting at that granular level and then also probabilistic modeling around that."
Johansson said demand not only varies by day, but also is "lumpy," as when multiple data centers are built in one area, creating an inordinately large pull. This needs to be planned for and, if possible, avoided, but sometimes cheap land is the driving force on this kind of placement.
Anticipating ever-faster growth rates is another challenge Johansson said.
Digital Realty's Sharp said, "We are used to forecasting our load and extrapolating the load based on gradual predictable growth." But now, "you have to continually innovate beyond where you even see the current demand because the demand is going to outstrip any efficiencies afforded to us."
One way to innovate, said National Grid's Kaur, is to "automate the engineering of infrastructure. For example, we're looking into startups that are doing digital twins of the power flow itself. So (that is) instead of just being a utility that you're assigned to just because you happen to live somewhere versus a utility that you are almost co-creating solutions with, be it flexibility or other options."
Source Agnostic
With much ado being made about clean energy and reducing emissions, all four panelists agreed that being "technology agnostic" was key to keeping up with grid expansion. Danielle Russell, executive director of the Center for Grid Security at Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) (Washington, D.C.), said, "It's really about how much is being asked of the grid."
She added that data center power supply has come from geothermal, natural gas and other sources. Each location has its own set of variables regarding cost, availability and more, so it's best not to have a "favorite" technology in the planning stage.
Additionally some are looking at small modular reactors (SMRs) and virtual power plants (VPPs). Xcel's Johansson called VPPs "a phenomenal example of how distributed energy resources can...(become) active participants in the grid."
VPPs involve using computers to slow EV fleet charging, access smart thermostats to raise the setting one or two degrees or draw on distributed resources such as business or home solar panels, battery backups, and could even "discharge the EV battery back into the grid."
Johansson said VPPs give customers a chance to voluntarily participate "in this energy journey" and to "earn some revenue as well."
The details of grid management matter greatly, but perhaps the biggest idea is that almost every possibility must be on the table to manage continued growth and the continued uptick in the rate of growth.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
In a recent webinar, four industry experts discussed problems and solutions involved in keeping the grid safe and reliable in view of exploding growth.
The need for expanding the grid is obvious, but managing the speed of change requires many layers of interaction, Ishreet Kaur of National Grid plc (London, England), an electric and gas utility in the northeast U.S. and the U.K., said at Reuters' "Inside the Load Growth Puzzle" webinar. "You have tech that's moving at the speed of light, and then you have utilities that have to make do with the processes of how we've done things so far." That goes for planning, permitting and building out, he said.
Kaur suggested collaboration between customers, data centers and grid operators to simplify the processes.
On the same wavelength was Chris Sharp of Digital Realty (Austin, Texas), which operates more than 300 data centers worldwide. He said the density of power demand from data centers will "require something different" regarding planning and procedures "to really understand how to ride this wave and not be disrupted."
Backlogs and Bottlenecks
Webinar host Hadia Sheerazi, of the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute (Basalt, Colorado)--which seeks to manage and support power growth--pointed to a 2024 Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory study showing that "there's about 2.6 terawatts (of grid capacity) patiently waiting to come online, which is twice the size of the entire existing U.S. grid."
Kaur said this interconnection queue started soon after the artificial intelligence (AI) boom began, and that prioritizing the needs between giant data centers and small pads for electric vehicle (EV) chargers is now needed.
For Xcel Energy Incorporated (Minneapolis, Minnesota), which provides power in eight midwestern states, Xcel IT Director Marcus Johansson said the company is looking at the big picture, in what it calls "intelligent queue management and robust scenario planning." Instead of the old method of running wires on a first-come, first-serve basis, Xcel is working with developers to determine which projects are most likely to actually be completed, and on what schedules, so as not to expend resources on new loads that may not materialize.
And Xcel has expanded its categories of demand.
"In the past we used to do residential, commercial or small commercial-large commercial," Johansson said. "Now we are doing segmentation within our commercial customers. Are these data center loads? Are these EV heat loads? Then going at the localized level to do that multi scenario planning of low-demand, medium-demand, high-demand forecasting at that granular level and then also probabilistic modeling around that."
Johansson said demand not only varies by day, but also is "lumpy," as when multiple data centers are built in one area, creating an inordinately large pull. This needs to be planned for and, if possible, avoided, but sometimes cheap land is the driving force on this kind of placement.
Anticipating ever-faster growth rates is another challenge Johansson said.
Digital Realty's Sharp said, "We are used to forecasting our load and extrapolating the load based on gradual predictable growth." But now, "you have to continually innovate beyond where you even see the current demand because the demand is going to outstrip any efficiencies afforded to us."
One way to innovate, said National Grid's Kaur, is to "automate the engineering of infrastructure. For example, we're looking into startups that are doing digital twins of the power flow itself. So (that is) instead of just being a utility that you're assigned to just because you happen to live somewhere versus a utility that you are almost co-creating solutions with, be it flexibility or other options."
Source Agnostic
With much ado being made about clean energy and reducing emissions, all four panelists agreed that being "technology agnostic" was key to keeping up with grid expansion. Danielle Russell, executive director of the Center for Grid Security at Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) (Washington, D.C.), said, "It's really about how much is being asked of the grid."
She added that data center power supply has come from geothermal, natural gas and other sources. Each location has its own set of variables regarding cost, availability and more, so it's best not to have a "favorite" technology in the planning stage.
Additionally some are looking at small modular reactors (SMRs) and virtual power plants (VPPs). Xcel's Johansson called VPPs "a phenomenal example of how distributed energy resources can...(become) active participants in the grid."
VPPs involve using computers to slow EV fleet charging, access smart thermostats to raise the setting one or two degrees or draw on distributed resources such as business or home solar panels, battery backups, and could even "discharge the EV battery back into the grid."
Johansson said VPPs give customers a chance to voluntarily participate "in this energy journey" and to "earn some revenue as well."
The details of grid management matter greatly, but perhaps the biggest idea is that almost every possibility must be on the table to manage continued growth and the continued uptick in the rate of growth.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
