{"id":286935,"date":"2026-09-16T02:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T02:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/286935\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T02:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T02:08:14","slug":"pennsylvania-regulators-warn-data-centers-could-increase-risk-of-power-outages-by-2030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/286935\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania regulators warn data centers could increase risk of power outages by 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania regulators warn data centers could increase risk of power outages by 2030<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>, Pa. \u2014<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania regulators are warning that the state\u2019s power grid could face significant challenges by 2030 due to the growing demand from data centers, potentially leading to more frequent power outages. <\/p>\n

Regulators warn of increased outage risk<\/p>\n

Stephen DeFrank, chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said the increased power demand from data centers could result in the grid not generating enough electricity to meet future demand. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t want to create panic here, but this report is a warning signal,\u201d DeFrank said. <\/p>\n

He explained that if more data centers connect to the grid than anticipated without new power generation, the frequency of power outages could rise dramatically. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf more data centers interconnect than we are expecting, with no new generation, that number changes from one loss-of-load event every ten years to 13 events every year by 2030,\u201d DeFrank said. <\/p>\n

DeFrank emphasized the need for data center projects to include their own power supplies and for the state to increase overall power generation. He suggested a mix of energy sources, including natural gas, nuclear, and green energy options. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer is all. All of the above,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Officials seek to protect ratepayers<\/p>\n

Molly Parzen, executive director of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, said the state must work with power grid operator PJM Interconnection and the federal government to ensure Pennsylvania families are not left paying for the increased power demand from data centers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt opens us up to the potential for Pennsylvania families being left holding the bag by these data center developers and the major tech companies backing them,\u201d Parzen said. <\/p>\n

PJM Interconnection, which operates the regional power grid, said in a statement that it is collaborating with the federal government and Pennsylvania to address the issue. <\/p>\n

\u201cPJM believes these combined, focused efforts can preserve reliable electrical service in the near and long term without unfairly burdening regular ratepayers,\u201d the statement read. <\/p>\n

State officials, including the governor, are also focusing on the idea of requiring new data centers to bring their own power sources as part of their projects, following a recent executive order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania regulators warn data centers could increase risk of power outages by 2030 , Pa. \u2014 Pennsylvania regulators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[42306,119442,119444,119443,28,30,29,81977,5205,16497,9917,7244],"class_list":["post-286935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-ai-data-centers","tag-conservation-voters-of-pennsylvania","tag-ennsylvania-public-utility-commission","tag-molly-parzen","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-regulators","tag-pjm-interconnection","tag-power-grid","tag-puc","tag-stephen-defrank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}