{"id":184106,"date":"2026-02-03T08:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T10:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:05:22","slug":"data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Data centers told to pitch in as storms and cold weather boost power demand"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand-274604\">Data centers told to pitch in as storms and cold weather boost power demand<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand-274604\">https:\/\/theconversation.com\/data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand-274604<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Publish Date: <a href=\"publish_date]\">2026-02-03 08:34:00<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source Domain: <a href=\"theconversation.com\">theconversation.com<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Winter Storm Fern Impact<\/strong>: Winter Storm Fern in late January 2026 left over a million people without power in the Southeast U.S., triggering a rise in air pollution due to higher demand for electricity.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Federal Authorization<\/strong>: Energy Secretary Chris Wright authorized PJM, ERCOT, and Duke Energy to ask large power-consuming businesses, including data centers, to use their backup generators to ensure enough power supply despite pollution concerns.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Data Center Energy Demand<\/strong>: Data centers, crucial for supporting generative AI, consume vast amounts of energy and their power demands are increasing, raising electricity prices and concerns about environmental impact.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Demand Response Programs<\/strong>: Traditionally, data centers have requested reliable power 24\/7; however, new strategies like demand response programs can reduce grid strain during emergencies and peak times.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Potential for Flexibility<\/strong>: Research suggests that flexible power use by data centers could add an additional 100 gigawatts of grid capacity, mitigating the need for new generation and transmission infrastructure.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Distributed Energy Solutions<\/strong>: Implementing distributed energy generation and storage, like rooftop solar and batteries, along with winterizing power lines and renewables, could enhance grid resilience during and after winter storms.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Long-Term Outlook<\/strong>: While onsite diesel generators provide emergency relief, long-term solutions should involve data centers, utilities, regulators, and grid operators to consider combined on- and offsite distributed energy strategies. This could lower energy prices, minimize pollution, and enhance resilience against extreme weather.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Data centers told to pitch in as storms and cold weather boost power demand https:\/\/theconversation.com\/data-centers-told-to-pitch-in-as-storms-and-cold-weather-boost-power-demand-274604&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/715498\/original\/file-20260130-56-lex676.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&rect=0%2C500%2C6000%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=1356&h=668&fit=crop","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-184106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-generative-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184108,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184106\/revisions\/184108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}