The Largest US Power Grid Will Be Saved from Blackouts by Switching Off Data Centers

The largest US power grid has long been straining under the influx of data centers, and now its operator, PJM Interconnection, has found a radical way to avoid rolling blackouts: cutting power, when capacity runs short, to the data centers themselves and other large consumers. The decision came after yet another auction for new generating capacity failed to attract the volume needed.

The cutoffs will begin no earlier than June 2027 and will affect only facilities of 50 megawatts or more. In the meantime, PJM is holding another auction for new generation — the scale of the problem is clear from the forecast: by 2035, data centers will consume four times as much electricity as they do today.

Not a Punishment, but a Deal

The mechanism is not as harsh as it sounds. It works on the principle of long-standing demand-response programs, in which industrial plants, for example, have participated for decades. Consumers who are cut off are compensated, and the cutoff itself is usually announced in advance — from half an hour to several days ahead, depending on the load forecast.

Predictably, many new (and possibly existing) data centers will opt to acquire their own on-site power sources. Those that do not will have to rely on backup generators, which are more expensive to run and, as a rule, dirtier. The favored option is diesel units: the fuel is readily available and easy to store on site. Federal rules permit the use of such generators for up to 50 hours a year for demand-response events and up to 100 hours for emergencies and maintenance.

The environmental side effect is already stirring controversy. This week, Vantage Data Centers was accused of working with Virginia's environmental regulators to try to cast doubt on a report according to which the diesel backup generators of a 96-megawatt data center in Northern Virginia could inflict tens of millions of dollars in health damage on nearby residents each year.

Who Pays for the Growth

PJM itself has also come under fire in recent months — for the way it manages the addition of new capacity and the connection of large consumers. Its territory stretches from Virginia to Illinois and covers 67 million customers. Over the past year, wholesale electricity prices there have nearly doubled, and PJM's independent market monitor laid the blame for the lion's share of that increase squarely on data centers.

Source: TechCrunch