Weathering the Storm: The Role of Design, Preparation, and Execution in Reliability
Nearly five years ago, a rare winter storm barreled toward Texas and several surrounding states, bringing with it the prospect of widespread power outages and major impacts to the grid infrastructure across the region. It exposed deep vulnerabilities across the state’s power system, causing widespread disruptions for businesses, hospitals, and critical services. But it was also a wake-up call for the entire energy industry, forcing a hard reckoning with how infrastructure performs under truly extreme conditions.
FERC Order Unlocks New Rules for AI-Driven Demand
For years, the data center conversation has been defined by a single anxiety: the grid cannot keep pace with accelerating demand. But FERC’s unanimous decision in December 2025 changed the math for one of its RTOs, which may be the ripple that generates a larger wave of action.
The Evolution of the Commercial & Industrial Microgrid in the Era of the Data Center
Manufacturers, hospitals, and other commercial and industrial customers are finding it harder to secure reliable, affordable power as grid constraints intensify and competition for capacity grows alongside large data center loads. This article explores how onsite generation is moving beyond backup power to deliver bridge power, cost control, and operational flexibility for C&I businesses navigating a more constrained energy landscape.
Beyond backup: The strategic role of flexible power in a new era of AI-driven demand
Visions of an AI-powered future are driving a global race to develop and deploy digital infrastructure and manufacturing facilities at breakneck speed. But this future endeavor is hitting a critical roadblock, as the aging grid struggles to keep up with soaring demand.The challenge for the energy industry is two-fold: new facilities are large-scale, requiring enough power to serve the equivalent of small cities; and these new loads need power on timescales that are much faster than traditional grid planning and deployment have moved.
Unlocking Grid Reliability: Why Non-Diesel, Co-Located Generation is the Future for Data Centers
Across major markets, utilities are warning of capacity shortfalls and long interconnection timelines. And at the same time, stricter emissions regulations are making traditional backup strategies like diesel generation harder to justify. The National Propane Gas Association’s new white paper, ‘Powering the Digital Age: Propane’s Role in Low-Emission Data Center Infrastructure,’ focuses on alleviating this tension. This article breaks down some of the paper’s conclusions about propane-fueled backup generation, offering a realistic, immediately deployable path toward resilient, lower-emission energy for the nation’s rapidly growing data center ecosystem.
PJM is the Data Center Hot Spot. Flexibility, Speed-to-Power Concepts Are the Solutions
The United States’ electricity sector is at an important inflection point. For the first time in several decades, demand for electricity is growing at an unprecedented pace. Tremendous opportunities lay ahead—as well as daunting challenges. The latter is what has grabbed the interest of state governors, federal and state regulators, industry (both suppliers and consumers) and ratepayer advocates. The goal remains a reliable yet affordable electricity system. But how to get there?
Why N+1 Beats 2N in the Race for Reliable Power
Imagine a data center mid-transaction, a hospital in surgery, or a manufacturing plant mid-batch—and the grid suddenly goes dark. For years, redundancy planning meant choosing between N+1 and 2N designs. But today, when speed-to-power and supply-chain constraints dictate who gets online first, the balance has shifted decisively toward N+1.
The Diesel Dilemma Series – The Diesel Supplier Trap
So far, our Diesel Dilemma series has covered the weather, truck math, supply chain, and the logistics footprint of diesel backup power for large loads. But after exploring those potential roadblocks, there’s one more threat to your resiliency plan that’s often overlooked: supplier reliability during a crisis.
You may have contracts, retainers, and “priority” service agreements. But let’s talk about what loyalty looks like when the region is in turmoil, and everyone is calling for diesel deliveries at the same time to replenish onsite storage when it runs dry.
The Diesel Dilemma Series – The Hidden Costs of Site Logistics & Security
If you’ve ever tried to lock in guaranteed fuel supply during a regional crisis, you quickly learn that contracts and promises mean very little when the entire map is red. And that reality comes into sharp focus when you start looking at what it actually takes to store and move diesel fuel onsite.
The Diesel Dilemma Series – Clustered Demand and the Supply Chain Crunch
Diesel backup for a 500 MW data center is tricky enough on its own and practically impossible to manage even when the weather cooperates. Diesel backup gets significantly more complex when you look beyond your facility’s gate and into the regional supply chain. Even if your site can handle 200+ truck deliveries in a short resupply window, the question becomes: can your suppliers secure the diesel fuel you need?