Emerging electric loads — such as data centers, EV charging, distributed solar, and energy storage — are rapidly reshaping demand patterns and forcing utilities to rethink rate structures, infrastructure planning, and long term strategy. With powerful new economic drivers behind the growth in artificial intelligence, electrification, and more, utilities are facing both unprecedented opportunities for economic development and complex challenges in continuing to provide reliable, affordable power for their communities. Explore what customers with high load factors need from the grid and how you can transform those needs into thoughtfully designed rates, line extension policies, and contracts that balance opportunity and risks, protect existing ratepayers, and still offer a competitive value proposition for attracting and retaining large power users.

Topics:

• Data center and other large load customer characteristics
• Developing standby rates for customers with dispatchable onsite generation
• Economic development rates that support cost recovery and fairness
• Integrating solar and other distributed energy resources to contribute to the system
• Incentives, discounts, and competitive rate structures
• Approaches for mitigating risk with large load customers