An alternative to connecting a large data center load to the electrical grid is a private, fully off-grid energy system, writes Travis Fisher of Cato.

Analysts with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin said ratepayers are at risk of subsidizing data centers if We Energies’ proposed rate framework for data centers is given the go-ahead as proposed.

The California Public Utility Commission approved construction of a set of transmission infrastructure projects to support a 90-MW data center owned by Microsoft, but questions remain about whether the upgrades will increase or decrease ratepayer costs.

MISO announced it will partner with Microsoft’s AI technologies to operate its markets and plan its system.

DOE awarded Constellation a $1 billion loan for its Crane Clean Energy Center project, which will cut financing costs for the nuclear unit restart.

PJM stakeholders are to vote on a record-breaking number of proposals on how the RTO should integrate large loads without impacting resource adequacy.

PJM has withdrawn its non-capacity backed load proposal, shifting the focus of its solution for rising large load additions to creating a parallel resource interconnection queue and reworking price-responsive demand.

Columnist Peter Kelly-Detwiler writes about the explosion of data center load requests and the enormous risks to utilities and ratepayers of overbuilding assets.

The data center dilemma centers first on a familiar mismatch of timescales. Utilities and their regulators tend to plan based on the small, incremental demand growth. But development and the power demand it generates move at ever-increasing digital speed.