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Trump signs order seeking to end federal funding for NPR and PBS; NY immigrant wrongfully sent to El Salvador 'supermax' prison; PA 'Day of Action' planned for higher minimum wage, immigrants' rights; New bill in Congress seeks to overturn CA animal welfare law.

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National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is leaving that job to become UN ambassador, bipartisan Arizona poll finds Latino voters dissatisfied by Trump's first 100 days, and Florida mass deportations frighten community members.

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Rural students who face hurdles going to college are getting noticed, Native Alaskans may want to live off the land but obstacles like climate change loom large, and the Cherokee language is being preserved by kids in North Carolina.

Report: Data centers drive gas power plant building in NC, Southeast

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Wednesday, January 29, 2025   

Data centers are driving the building of gas-powered plants in the Southeast but it will leave ratepayers on the hook if higher energy needs do not materialize.

A https://ieefa.org/resources/data-centers-drive-buildout-gas-power-plants-and-pipelines-southeast from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis looked at utility and pipeline company plans in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia. Utilities in the four states are expected to build 20,000 megawatts of natural gas power plants by 2040.

Cathy Kunkel, energy consultant at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and co-author of the report, said it is despite relatively flat energy demand from consumers, which means data centers will be using a lot of power.

"Generally speaking, in the Southeast data centers are responsible for anywhere between two-thirds to more than 85% of this projected demand growth," Kunkel reported.

Kunkel pointed out there is a high risk utility and pipeline companies will overbuild infrastructure because demand from data centers might not materialize, especially with questions around the financial viability and energy usage of artificial intelligence.

If plants are built but companies operating data centers scale back plans, Kunkel stressed utilities would still need to charge those costs to ratepayers.

"It's really important that utility regulators start taking proactive action to make sure that ratepayers and consumers are not on the hook for what may turn out to be a tech industry bubble that results in unneeded electricity infrastructure," Kunkel urged.

Kunkel noted plans to build natural gas plants are in opposition to North Carolina's legislatively mandated climate goals to attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

"These forecasts for data center development and the massive buildout of natural gas infrastructure that the utilities are planning in response is just completely incompatible with the action that should be taken on climate change at the moment," Kunkel contended.

Disclosure: The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy and Priorities, Energy Policy, Environment, and Urban Planning/Transportation. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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