Powering Intelligence: Meeting AI’s Energy Needs in a Changing Electricity Landscape
Thank you to James Broughel and Paige Lambermont of Competitive Enterprise Institute for including "Consumer Regulated Electricity" or CRE in a recent paper.
"There are alternative arrangements that could speed up connection to power for new data centers while keeping their load off the power grid. This concept is called consumer regulated electricity (CRE). CRE would allow independent power grids not run by the monopoly public utility. These grids would inevitably be highly geographically limited but may be intense in their power demand. Instead of making a colocation agreement through a utility for a new power plant to serve their load, a technology company could create or join an independent grid that serves a specific campus of data centers and similar users. This option would create flexibility for companies looking to build new data centers while insulating the broader power grid from fluctuations.
For this to be possible, state lawmakers would need to pass a law amending the enabling legislation for their utility regulator that exempts CRE from the utility’s monopoly. To enable more off-grid energy production and co-located facilities, restrictions on bilateral energy sales between off-grid generators and co-located consumers should be removed. In many regions, utilities hold exclusive rights to distribute electricity. Policymakers should remove the legal and regulatory barriers that prevent private companies from utilizing local infrastructure or developing their own distributed systems. State lawmakers should consider these avenues to provide options for companies that want power beyond the traditional grid structure."
