Image courtesy of Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
What’s fair? Power more than a half-million homes, or give that power to a data center?
The accelerating growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has prompted the demand for energy. Data centers need power to run servers, storage systems, networking equipment, and cooling systems. It takes 4-5 years to get power facilities constructed, online, and ready to use. Artificial intelligence companies say that 4 to 5 years will prevent them from staying competitive with other countries like China and could create a national security problem.
Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale pricing of electricity and FERC also reviews proposals to build interstate natural gas pipelines, natural gas storage projects, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, and licensing non-federal hydropower projects.
FERC will decide if Susquehanna Energy in Pennsylvania will allow Amazon (AWS) to sponge off a grid that ordinary customers pay to build and maintain. Similar issues exist in Illinois and Ohio. The Susquehanna-AWS deal would save AWS $140 million a year, which it would otherwise owe. What’s fair?
