High electricity use in data centers creates the risk of power outages during winter storms

The explosive growth of data centers could threaten the stability of the electrical grid this winter, according to an industry supervisor.

The North American Electricity Reliability Corporation (NERC) said in a report that electricity demand across North America this winter is expected to increase by 2.5% over last year, reaching a total of 20 gigawatts. a report Released this week. In recent years, winter demand has increased by 1% or less.

Data centers are driving much of this growth, especially in the mid-Atlantic, western U.S. and southeastern U.S. regions, “regions where a lot of data center development is happening,” says Mark Olson, director of reliability ratings at NERC. He said E&E News.

The report specifically calls for data center expansion in Texas, saying it “contributes to the continued risk of undersupply.” This law may be particularly troubling for Texans, who have suffered for nearly five years Widespread power outages During a severe cold snap.

At that time, natural gas power plants stopped operating because wellheads froze, leading to a decline in natural gas supplies. Meanwhile, demand for fossil fuels has risen as residential and commercial customers try to keep homes and offices warm. (The governor has publicly blamed wind turbines, Despite knowledge They were just a small part of the problem.)

This year, NERC said the situation in Texas is unlikely to be as bad as it was in February 2021, in part because many more batteries have been added to the state’s grid. These batteries can step in to provide electricity if gas-fired power plants cannot provide electricity as intended. In addition, they can react more quickly to smaller disturbances than “peaker” power plants, most of which are powered by natural gas and require minutes to spin up.

However, Texas is not completely in the clear.

Most batteries deployed in Texas can provide electricity for a few hours at a time. This is suitable in circumstances where demand tends to peak for a short period, such as in the evening when people return from work.

But as NERC notes, data centers tend to draw electricity constantly throughout the day. If a prolonged cold snap hits the state, NERC said, keeping those batteries charged enough to deliver power to all customers — including data centers — will become more difficult.

If this winter passes without a major storm, NERC does not expect any problems with the electrical grid in any area. But the organization said that over the past five years, there have been four severe storms, which could force grid operators to import electricity, ask large customers to limit their usage, or, as a last resort, go into blackouts.