Data centers flourish in Texas. What does this mean for the network?

Texas (KXXV) – The emergence of artificial intelligence, economy and increasing computing needs in daily life increased expansion in data centers, which increased the demand for electricity in Texas and all over the country.

The main network operator in Texas expects that energy demand will continue Nearly weakness By 2030, this is partly due to the increase in network delivery requests from major users such as data centers, cryptocurrency mining facilities, hydrogen production factories and oil and gas companies.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump STARGATE, a joint project Between Openai, SoftBank and Oracle, which will invest up to $ 500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Texas will serve as a starting point, with 10 data centers for the project already being constructed in the state, 10 other centers on the road and the first project in Abelin. The CEO of Oracle Larry Ellson said. Each building will run half a million square feet.

This advertisement reflects the intense desire in data centers in various industries and the ongoing payment for years to increase data capacity. Elison indicated that the partnership was under implementation years ago. He said that new data centers can provide services such as keeping electronic health care records and helping hospitals to exchange medical knowledge.

“The demand for digital services continues to increase and is still necessary to build our capabilities for the twenty -first century economy,” said Dan Dioro, the first director of state policy in the alliance of data centers, an industrial commercial group. “Texas is in a unique position to take advantage of it.”

This expansion – in addition to another large number of energy users and factors such as population growth and harsh weather – will extend to the network over the next decade, raising questions about how Texas can meet the increasing demand for energy while ensuring the ability to withstand costs and reliability of daily consumers.

Data centers in Texas

Data centers – which include servers that provide computer energy, fans and cooling units needed to maintain the equipment of excess heat – are intense energy consumption facilities that operate around the clock throughout the week.

Large data centers can require 100 megawatts or more each, and the same amount of energy consumes annually by 350,000 to 400,000 electric cars, according to International Energy Agency. In other words, a larger facility can use an amount of electricity equivalent to what is used by a medium -sized power plant, according to US Energy Information Administration estimates.

Texas has witnessed a rapid increase in data capacity thanks to the relatively cheap energy prices in the state, and the ease of connecting to the network’s facilities and its tax and regulatory environment appropriate to the business in general.

Companies generally employ between 50 to 150 or more employees in each data center, in addition to a group of construction and maintenance contractors, according to the data centers alliance, which is estimated that each job in the data center supports six jobs in other places of the economy.

The state had 279 data centers until September, According to the Texas State observer. Dallas Fort Worth has about 141 of these.

This is translated into 591 megawatts of energy rented by databases in Dallas and Fort Worth last year – the second largest amount of energy in the country – and nearly 190 MW in Austin and San Antonio, according to CBR report.

The Texas Electrical Council, which is the main operator of the network in the state, estimates that 1 megawatts of electricity can provide nearly 200 houses with energy.

What does more network centers for the network mean?

In Texas, US Energy Information Management And expected this request From adult users – including but not limited to data centers – will grow by 60 % this year, which constitutes about 10 % of the total expected demand on the main network of the state.

Adult users needed 5496 MW of energy It was approved by Erkot To connect to the network, according to the September report. The Energy Information Administration expects that by the end of this year, Ercot will have agreed to 9,500 megawatts of the total request of big users – an increase of 73 %.

This includes data centers and other adult users such as cryptocurrency mining facilities, which represent the largest share of big users looking to connect to the network, according to Ercot.

Many other projects with large loads – which would use up to 56458 megawatts annually – were awaiting the study of Ercot as of September.

Some adult users, especially cryptocurrency mining facilities, have committed to temporarily reduced energy use in the network stress periods – an agreement Some cryptocurrency mining companies earned millions of dollars While many Texas populated a significant increase in electricity bills.

On the other hand, databases generally require uninterrupted supplies and are not usually involved in high -order response programs, according to a recent study. a report From the Senate Business and Trade Committee in Texas.

At the national level, it is expected that between 11% and 12% of the total energy demand in the United States by 2030 – an increase of about 3% and 4% of the demand today, according to a recent report. McKinsey analysis.

Is the network ready?

It is scheduled to raise how to meet the increasing demand for the network’s debate about the network during the legislative session for this year.

The legislators in Texas sought to strengthen the state supplies of natural gas through the Texas Energy Fund, which will provide companies up to 10 billion dollars in the form of low -interest loans to build gas stations. The state’s regulatory authorities are currently examining loan requests, but the new factories will not work for years.

“Data centers will provide a very essential product for consumers that support our lives jobs,” said Mark Bell, President of the Texas Electricity Companies Association. “As an industry, we are ready to face the challenges we face with this type of big load.”

Bell added that the expected demand “provides front signals in the market” that encourage companies to invest in new energy generation.

Ercot’s expectations, which reflected a sharp increase in previous years, also raised questions between legislators about whether senior users need more government control.

“I think we need to upgrade the level of challenge of connecting the required generation to the network,” said Senator. Charles ChounernerThe head of the Business and Trade Committee told the Texas Tribune in June. “But there is ultimately a priority that can be discussed, and it is clear that the residents of Texas – their families, homes and companies – are the most important individuals, and the most important electricity customers.”

On social media, the Deputy Governor said. Dan Patrick He said in June that the legislative body needs to “take a closer look” at data centers and cryptocurrencies. “We want data centers, but the wild West of data centers and cryptocurrencies cannot be destroyed our network and extinguish the spotlight.” books.

Patrick said in a statement on Thursday to Texas Tribune that he supports Stargate and believes that Texas should be “the world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, data center and cryptocurrencies. The key is to make sure they get the energy they need without a significant impact on our electrical network. Industries realize that and works To find solutions.

Some companies are The construction generation locally or on the site To help reduce its effect on the network and secure their power source. The construction of its facilities near the current generation sites can also help reduce the crowding of the network. Legislators are likely to consider if companies should be forced to do so, with the Senate Business and Trade Committee in Texas Recommendation Large loads will be needed “to compensate for their effect on the network by adding energy systems on the site or participating in programs to reduce the use of electricity during the peak period of demand.”

Judgment on whether it is possible to build data centers and other large projects in Texas after a study of Ercot study is still difficult. Experts have witnessed the legislators last year, making the demands of Ercot less certain. Companies looking to build data centers submitting requests in multiple potential sites.

In order to help enhance these expectations, the Senate Business and Trade Committee in Texas decided Recommend The state guarantees the regulatory authorities to obtain sufficient information on how big users work, such as asking companies to provide more detailed information about their proposed projects.

Public Utilities Committee I agreed to the base In November, I asked the Ercot Currency Mining Facilities connected to the Ercot network.

The expected growth in use also means that the network will need More transportation linesPablo Figas, CEO of Ercot, said in April.

“The expected pace for the growth of loads can exceed the pace through which the transportation capacity can be built to support.” He said the Vigas offer. “A new era of planning a transportation system is necessary to manage the large amount of potential load.”

Usually, the costs of creating the infrastructure for transport and distribution are distributed to utilities customers. But the major investments needed to support the demand paid by major industrial users raised the question about who should bear the bill.

Their lawmakers The interest referred to In reducing the costs borne by young consumers, “by ensuring that industries with large demand for electricity bears a fair share of their actual costs.”

Dioro, from the data centers alliance, stressed that the industry is “completely committed to paying the cost of full service.”

He said: “We do not want residential customers to support data centers.” “We have a strong interest in helping Texas to build appropriately, and we tend to do this.”

Disclosure: The AECT Electricity Companies Association (AECT) was a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a non -profitable news organization that is partially funded by the donations of members, institutions and sponsoring companies. Financial supporters do not play any role in the Tribune press. Full find A list of them here.

This article was originally appeared in Texas Tribune in https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/texas-data-Ciste-Boom-grid/.

The Texas Tribune is a non -party news room supported by members that informs and involve the citizens of Texas in the state’s policies and policies. Learn more on Texastribune.org.