New data centers in the Northwest are far outpacing the growth of new electrical energy supplies and transmission, according to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Data centers being rapidly built in the West are becoming an “emerging risk” to electrical grid reliability in the region, according to regional transmission experts.
New data centers, which can be built in as little as 18 months, are far outpacing the growth in new electrical energy supply and transmission, according to members of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, a nonprofit organization based in Salt Lake City that ensures grid connection and reliability between utilities in 14 western states and parts of Canada and Mexico. Members of the council discussed challenges to grid reliability at a recent webinar first reported by the trade publication RTO Insider.
In it, council members said new energy demand from data centers has emerged as a more prescient challenge than meeting energy demand for transportation, also becoming rapidly electrified. The energy and transmission buildout needed to meet these demands is lagging, they said. By the end of 2023, just about half of the new energy buildout anticipated for the West had been completed. This is due in large part to supply chain issues, prices and skilled labor shortages, according to Branden Sudduth, the commission’s vice president of reliability planning.