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The building of a data center in the US has raised concerns about overburdening the largest US grid.

Energy executives and regulators at CERAWeek, a conference held in Houston last week, expressed concern about the ability of an aging U.S. electric grid to meet this demand.

Electricity consumption in the United States is reaching record levels due to the construction of giant computer warehouses by Big Tech. A single site can use as much energy as a medium-sized U.S. town. The government agencies predict that data center demand is expected to triple in the next three-years, and consume 12% of all U.S. electricity.

In an interview, Samir Vora said that the challenges facing the grid are becoming more pronounced.

As electricity demand grows, fossil fuel-powered generators are being retired. Interconnection queues for new generation and power lines can last years, affecting the delicate balance between supply and demand needed to prevent blackouts.

Mark Christie, the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said this at a conference held on Thursday.

Christie stated that the reality of the situation has been made most apparent in the largest electrical grid of the United States, PJM Interconnection. This grid covers 13 states plus the District of Columbia.

PJM has the largest concentration of data centres in the world. Virginia, a member state of PJM, routes about 70% of the global internet traffic. PJM's latest capacity auction saw prices more than 800% above the previous year. The grid operator cited rising demand and shrinking supplies as the reason for the increase.

Manu Asthana said in a panel discussion that he was optimistic about the solution to this problem, but it wasn't a trivial one.

Asthana, PJM's CEO, said that he expects the peak demand of 184 gigawatts in 2030. Asthana added that nearly all of these additions will come from data centers.

FERC's Christie warned that if new power is not added quickly, the supply and demand squeeze will spread to other areas of the country.

He warned that the problem would be magnified in other regions with multiple states. (Reporting and editing by Laila KEARNEY; Liz Hampton)

(source: Reuters)