一些世界上最大的科技公司的数据中心建设将加速电力需求的增长。由于德克萨斯州的人口激增和电气化程度的提高，电力需求已经在上升。Wells说，到2030年，中点能源项目对休斯顿地区公用事业的峰值需求可能会从今年约22 GW的峰值增加30%以上。Midpoint Energy found that data center developers increased requests to connect to their Houston-area utility companies by 700% within a few months.
Zhitong Finance learned that Midpoint Energy (CNP.US) found that data center developers' requests to connect to their Houston-area utilities increased by 700% within a few months. On Monday, Midpoint Energy CEO Jason Wells said during an earnings call with analysts that the Greater Houston Area Utility's data center queuing capacity has increased from 1 GW before summer to 8 GW now. The company's email response confirmed that the planned development is located entirely near Houston, the largest city in Texas, and facilities supporting artificial intelligence may be the main reason for this growth.
“Over the summer, we've seen a fundamental shift in data center development,” Wells said on the conference call. While we realise that not all of these will be developed, we still think this is one of the most tangible long-term growth stories in the industry.”
The construction of data centers by some of the world's largest technology companies will accelerate the growth in electricity demand. Demand for electricity is already rising due to the surging population and increasing electrification in Texas. Wells said peak demand for Houston-area utilities from Midpoint Energy projects is likely to increase by more than 30% from a peak of around 22 GW this year by 2030.
Midpoint Energy operates one of the nation's most stressed local power grids, and the company was scrutinized by the public and regulators after the extreme storms that hit Houston earlier this year caused power outages. In July of this year, Hurricane Beryl (Beryl) cut off power supplies to more than 2 million homes and businesses in eastern Texas, leaving most of Houston without electricity for several days. Power companies are struggling to cope with the emergency.
US state regulators and the major Texas grid operator are closely monitoring the infrastructure needed to support the data center and its impact on household utility bills. The biggest data center developers in the tech industry, hyperscale companies, will need to pay a larger share of these investments as they are driving more power demand growth, officials said.
