CPS Power is actively working to plan for excessive development in electrical energy demand over the subsequent decade as new knowledge facilities come on-line within the state, executives informed the utility’s board of trustees on Monday.
As a result of San Antonio is positioned within the geographic middle of Texas, CPS Power should play a big half in upping the transmission capability of electrical energy throughout the state as knowledge facilities proceed to pop up throughout the state, mentioned Elaina Ball, the utility’s chief technique officer.
CPS Power expects to spend about $1.3 billion on transmission tasks over the subsequent 5 years so as to add a load-serving capability of 1 gigawatt — sufficient electrical energy to energy about 750,000 houses — to assist Texas carry the demand load that new knowledge facilities can be producing, Chief Power Supply Officer Richard Medina mentioned.
Knowledge facilities are specialised amenities designed to retailer, handle and course of massive volumes of digital knowledge. They eat roughly 10 to 50 instances the power {that a} typical workplace constructing does.
Whereas knowledge facilities accounted for about 4% of the whole U.S. electrical energy consumption load in 2023, it’s projected to eat as much as 9.1% of that load by 2030, in line with the Electrical Energy Analysis Institute. Texas ranks second within the quantity of electrical energy consumed by knowledge facilities inside the US.
“We’ve got by no means seen an business demand a rise for energy like we’re seeing proper now,” Ball mentioned. “Most likely the closest was when there was adoption of HVAC expertise, however it really is a shocking quantity of development that everybody in our business is grappling with … and we aren’t any completely different right here in Central Texas.”
CPS Power is planning to construct three new substations and 15 new or upgraded transmission strains over the subsequent three to 5 years, Medina mentioned.
In complete, the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has permitted 9 “San Antonio South Reliability Initiatives” to extend statewide system capability, assist development and enhance renewable era in south and central Texas over the subsequent decade. CPS Power’s board of trustees permitted the route and development of two of those tasks on Monday.
The utility will even be performing extra research to additional assess the state’s future wants, Medina mentioned. These research might reveal a necessity for extra tasks over the subsequent 5 years to spice up transmission capability, requiring extra spending, he added.
“ERCOT has [transmission] constraints happening south, so that they’re asking us to expedite a few of these transmission tasks,” Medina mentioned. “And so we’re wanting actual arduous to determine how will we expedite a few of these tasks that usually take three years, and we’re making an attempt to expedite it in half the time.”
