Utilities report a 25x increase in data center interconnection requests, exposing grid vulnerabilities amid surging electricity demand projections.
U.S. electricity demand is projected to grow 5.7% annually through 2030, a sharp rise from decades of sub-1% growth. Utilities now face 40-50 large-load interconnection requests annually, up from just one or two in prior years.
In Houston, CenterPoint Energy saw data center requests jump from 1 GW to 25 GW in 12 months. Exelon expects only 22% of its 65-GW pipeline through 2040 to materialize, as many requests come from speculative developers lacking site control or customers.
The surge in “phantom data centers” has exposed long-standing grid fragility, driven by decades of underinvestment during near-zero demand growth.