America's largest power grid operator has warned that surging electricity demand from data centers is contributing to an environment that leaves the system with “little room for error.”
David Souder, executive director of system operations at PJM Interconnection—which coordinates electricity across all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia—said year-round demand from data centers, combined with unusually warm or cold weather arriving earlier and staying later, is eroding the lower-demand periods traditionally used to prepare the grid for summer and winter.
Souder said Thursday that spring and fall have typically provided windows of lower electricity demand, opening up an opportunity for generators and transmission lines to be taken offline for maintenance and upgrades.
“But the once-dependable reprieve is not what it used to be. That’s in part because the profile of our customers is changing,” Souder said.
“Most of the new, rapidly growing energy demand is from data centers and other energy-intensive Large Load customers, and their consumption does not fluctuate significantly with the weather; it is a 12-month, 24/7 phenomenon.”
Expanding demand outpacing new transmission and electricity supply, coupled with unusually warm or cold weather extending beyond its typical seasons, is turning traditional maintenance windows into potential periods of significant grid stress, he said.
“Energy flow on the transmission system is increasing while our generation reserves are dwindling, leaving little room for error.”
Newsweek contacted PJM for additional comment via email on Friday.
Souder’s statement comes amid growing political backlash over the data centers needed to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Their proliferation has become a political flashpoint ahead of November’s midterm elections, with residents and lawmakers voicing concerns over the facilities' potential electricity and water consumption, and environmental impacts.
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Emergency Order Targets Blackout Risk
Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued an emergency order to reduce the risk of blackouts across PJM’s territory “to mitigate blackout risks in the mid-Atlantic ahead of a period of elevated demand, a high rate of planned generator outages during the autumn maintenance season, and numerous planned transmission outages.”
Several similar orders had been issued this year, PJM said.
The order directed PJM to bring specified power-generating units online when needed to maintain reliable supply.
“Planned maintenance season will continue to present risks that we formerly faced only in Summer and Winter,” a spokesperson for the operator told Newsweek previously.
“PJM is working with state and federal policymakers to address these conditions by increasing supply on multiple fronts, including speeding the connection of new electricity supply and removing state permitting barriers that are outside of PJM’s jurisdiction.”
Feds Say Operator Can’t Restrict Data Centers
Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, blocked a proposed PJM plan allowing new data centers and other large users requiring at least 50 megawatts to connect without matching new generating capacity if they agreed to possible power cuts during periods of grid stress.
PJM told Newsweek it proposed the Interim Resource Adequacy Service “to address the growing electricity reliability challenge where electricity demand is increasing faster than new generation is coming online.
“It is based on the concept that existing customers should not bear the consequences of that imbalance and would require data centers and other large loads to fulfill the commitments they made, through the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, to help maintain the reliability and affordability of the electric grid.”
The FERC rejected the framework, however, saying that key provisions appeared to intrude on state authority over retail electricity service.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.