DTE Energy secured its first hyperscaler agreement and says it has enough excess capacity to power the 1.4-GW data center load without new construction.

Following in the footsteps of other major tech firms, Facebook's owner, Meta, has asked FERC to set up a power marketing subsidiary called Atem Energy that will help it manage its growing demand for electricity.

As some data center operators plan to power their facilities with onsite generation, one researcher a California Energy Commission workshop suggested it might be better to get electricity from the grid instead.

The data center dilemma centers first on a familiar mismatch of timescales. Utilities and their regulators tend to plan based on the small, incremental demand growth. But development and the power demand it generates move at ever-increasing digital speed.

The electric power industry must step up to meet growing power demand and continue to build a system the country needs, said Javier Fernandez, CEO of the Omaha Public Power District. "This is one place where we cannot afford to fail. We cannot afford to delay infrastructure."