While we’ve presented our recommendations across three pillars, none is independent of the others – and improvements in one area ripple across the chain.
When energy is built into planning, developers rule out unviable sites, and utilities have early warning of future large loads. This means they can invest proactively, which in turn makes more sites viable in the next round of site selection.
When project execution improves, the utility can rely on the demand forecast and commit to upgrades early. As a result, the data center’s project timelines become more predictable. And when data centers can flex their demand, utilities can manage peaks without building new infrastructure, while data centers can turn flexibility into a commercial benefit.
That’s why the biggest benefit comes from connecting all three pillars in a single energy operating model.
In this model, utilities, developers, regulators, investors, and policymakers share data on a single platform. This allows for an integrated approach to energy and site planning, along with a real-time view of the project – schedule, costs, risk and bottlenecks.
It enables AI to plan and model different scenarios across demand, supply, flexibility and investments. It gives utilities visibility of data center demand at a cluster level, which allows them to provide a more reliable service across the whole portfolio. And crucially, it allows data centers and grid systems to coordinate their operations in real time. So delays show up as soon as they happen, not months down the line.
