Data centers aren't breaking the grid. A broken grid is

Key Points:

• Data centers now consume about 7% of U.S. electricity, equivalent to powering all homes in California and Texas combined, a significant increase from 1% fifteen years ago, but they are only one factor stressing an outdated electrical grid.
• The core issue driving rising electricity costs is the underbuilt and outdated grid, originally designed for predictable 20th-century demand, now strained by new technologies like electric vehicles, heat pumps, and industrial electrification.
• Policymakers should focus on treating demand flexibility as a grid resource, incentivizing data centers designed for dynamic grid interaction, and modernizing interconnection and planning processes to better integrate flexible loads and storage.
• Data centers with integrated battery storage can provide grid services by curtailing load quickly during peak times and supplying power during outages, turning them from a perceived burden into a grid asset.
• Legislation targeting data centers alone risks ignoring broader structural grid challenges, and comprehensive modernization is needed to accommodate all new 21st-century electricity demands efficiently and cost-effectively.