The New York Power Authority is one of the founding members of a new initiative -- DCFlex -- to explore how data centers can support the electric grid, enable better asset utilization, and support the clean energy transition.
“Electric utility providers need to take a leading, active role in determining the impact AI and data centers will have on our energy supply. The New York Power Authority has joined the DCFlex initiative to work with other energy sector leaders to support innovation, plan for the grid of the future and address key issues such as power consumption, energy efficiency and carbon emissions,” said Justin E. Driscoll, President & CEO of the New York Power Authority.
Along with NYPA. the initiative’s founding members include Compass Datacenters, Constellation Energy, Duke Energy, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Google, Meta, NRG Energy, NVIDIA, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, PJM Interconnection, Portland General Electric, QTS Data Centers, Southern Company, and Vistra Corp.
After years of flat load growth on the U.S. grid, electricity demand is rising across the economy as numerous factors – including industrial onshoring, electrification of transport, digitization, and the adoption of AI – converge, EPRI said.
According to a recent EPRI white paper, electricity usage by hyperscalers more than doubled between 2017 and 2021. This increase is expected to continue, with data centers projected to consume 5% to 9% of U.S. electricity generation annually by 2030, up from 4% today.
“This growing demand presents unique opportunities in the journey toward net zero and ensuring reliability across the electric grid. Technology companies have historically been a key driver in accelerating commercialization of clean energy and innovative collaborations throughout the energy ecosystem,” EPRI said.
“Their efforts and ambitions toward net-zero and clean energy in collaboration with electricity providers sharing these goals can be a driving force in addressing the growing demand and building a more reliable, resilient, affordable, and sustainable electricity grid of the future.”
Led by EPRI, DCFlex will coordinate real-world demonstrations of flexibility in a variety of existing and planned data centers and electricity markets, creating reference architectures and providing shared learnings to enable broader adoption of flexible operations that benefit all electricity consumers.
Specifically, DCFlex will establish five to ten flexibility hubs, “demonstrating innovative data center and power supplier strategies that enable operational and deployment flexibility, streamline grid integration, and transition backup power solutions to grid assets.”
Demonstration deployment will begin in the first half of 2025, and testing could run through 2027
This initiative is an outgrowth of discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy and many in the data center, technology, utility, and research communities that informed the development of recommendations to DOE from the Secretary’s Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Powering AI and Data Center Infrastructure Recommendations July 2024.pdf (energy.gov) earlier this year.
The recommendations highlighted the need for closer collaboration among all key stakeholders in powering the data centers that support our growing economy and underpin advances in AI technology.
“For the electric sector, AI advances are key to managing the grid more efficiently by effectively integrating distributed resources, demand response, variable renewables, and energy storage with utility-scale grid resources. This can accelerate the energy transition while keeping electricity reliable and affordable,” EPRI said.
“Data centers play a critical role in today’s interconnected global information-sharing environment and economy, but along with increased manufacturing and movement towards electrification, they are placing additional power needs on the electric grid,” said EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor. “Flexible data center design and operation is a key strategy for accelerating AI development and realizing its benefits while minimizing costs, lowering carbon emissions, and enhancing system reliability.”
