For data centers and other energy-intensive facilities, securing enough electricity is becoming as important as securing land, financing or customers.
AI is accelerating electricity demand at a time when utilities are already confronting long interconnection timelines and constraints on generation and transmission. Deloitte estimates power demand from AI data centers could rise from 4 GW in 2024 to 123 GW by 2035. Meanwhile, more than 1,800 GW of proposed generation is waiting in U.S. interconnection queues.
Grid connection timelines still average four years or longer across much of North America, and developers who bring supplemental power to utility negotiations often secure accelerated schedules.
For developers, waiting years for the grid to catch up may not be an option.
A new white paper from Ameresco and Energy Changemakers, “When the Grid Can’t Keep Up: Why Large-Load Developers Are Becoming Their Own Power Suppliers,” examines an emerging alternative: bringing power generation closer to the customer and making it part of the project strategy from the start.
Pictured above: Ameresco designed and installed three comprehensive energy conservation projects at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard under a $44 million energy savings performance contract, as well as a microgrid solution to demonstrate islanding capabilities during electric public utility downtime.
The shift is already significant. By 2030, more than a quarter of data centers expect to be fully powered by onsite generation — a 27-fold increase from just 1% of facilities in 2024. More than 35 GW of data center capacity is expected to be self-generated by 2030.
But the paper argues that behind-the-meter power is about more than getting projects online faster. Properly designed systems can combine firm generation, renewables, storage and digital controls to improve resilience, accommodate phased growth and potentially support the larger utility system.
Ameresco draws on more than 25 years of experience developing mission-critical energy infrastructure, including military microgrids and onsite generation, to show how those lessons can apply to data centers, industrial facilities and other large energy users.
Download the full white paper to explore what this new power model could mean for your next large-load project.
