Data Centers Pose Threat to Electric Grids, US Regulator Says

Big data centers connecting to power grids is now one of the greatest near-term risks to reliability, according to a rare warning by the US agency charged with overseeing the sector.

The sprawling campuses responsible for AI and cryptocurrency mining are being developed at a faster pace than the power plants and transmission lines needed to support them, “resulting in lower system stability,” said the North American Electric Reliability Corp. in a report Thursday. That’s because data centers require tremendous amounts of power at unpredictable intervals, and are also sensitive to swings in grid voltage — making them a major ...