Talen Energy is facing opposition from a group of electric utilities, including American Electric Power and Exelon, over its recent data center deal with Amazon. The utilities argue that the deal could lead to higher electricity bills for the public. Talen has asked U.S. regulators to dismiss the challenge, claiming that it is based on inaccurate information.
The deal, announced in March, involves Talen selling power and a data center at its Pennsylvania nuclear power plant to Amazon Web Services. This would provide Amazon’s data warehouses with up to 960 megawatts of electrical capacity, enough to power about a million homes. The group of power companies has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to hold a hearing to further examine Talen’s interconnection agreement with Amazon, citing concerns about potential annual cost burdens for taxpayers.
Talen argues that if FERC proceeds with the hearing or rejects the proposal, it could negatively impact the expansion of data centers and discourage the construction of new power plants at a time of increased electricity demand in the U.S. Technology companies are increasingly reliant on substantial electricity supplies to operate data centers, which are crucial for deploying advanced technologies like generative artificial intelligence. Nuclear power has become a popular choice for data centers due to its low carbon emissions and reliable power generation.
The FERC decision regarding Talen’s data center deal with Amazon could set a standard for similar arrangements where data centers are located near power plants that directly supply them with electricity. This setup allows data centers to start operations quickly without facing long interconnection queues, which can last for years. The outcome of this case could have broader implications for the data center industry and its access to reliable power sources during a period of rapid growth.
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https://www.ibtimes.com/talen-urges-us-regulators-dismiss-opposition-amazons-data-center-agreement-3736145