Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
EnergyFluo Orchestrates Grid, Storage, And On-Site Generation For U.S. Data Centers
“industry insiders tempered much of this criticism with optimism”
“Although these challenges remain, they have been superseded by community opposition to data centers.”
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AI-driven data centers spur microgrid and on-site generation investments to meet power demand. Utilities face substantial costs and planning for connecting data centers to expanding grids.
AI drives power rethink
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the energy demands of data centers, as computing equipment becomes more power-intensive and operators face a dual challenge of securing electricity while managing interactions between power supply, storage, cooling, and backup generation.
U.S. data centers accounted for approximately 4.7% of the nation’s electricity consumption in 2024, a share projected to reach 11.8% by 2030 in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s reference case.
The International Energy Agency projected that a single advanced server rack could have peak power demand equivalent to that of 65 U.S. households by 2027.
TransGrid Energy CEO Dr. Youngchoon Park said EnergyFluo “orchestrates grid, storage and on-site generation as one system and optimizes the load behind them, so operators can put more megawatts to work for IT and run their entire fleet from one intelligent view.”
EnergyFluo was among the first AI-enabled products globally to receive certification from UL Solutions under UL 3115 in March 2026.
Community trust becomes key
7x24 Exchange Chairman Bob Cassiliano said community opposition has overtaken several of the industry’s other longstanding concerns as the conference opened its technical program in San Antonio under the themeThe Intersection of AI & Traditional Data Centers. Cassiliano said, “Last year it was artificial intelligence, sustainability, the labor shortage,” and he added, “they have been superseded by community opposition to data centers.” AI futurist and former Google DeepMind executive Steve Brown told attendees, “We're using data centers to turn energy into intelligence,” as he described physical infrastructure required for an increasingly AI-driven economy.
Brown said, “There may be a financial bubble, there may be a debt bubble, but I do not believe there is a demand bubble,” while he argued agentic computing could sustain expansion. Google power systems engineer Ashish Upreti and Cummins technical advisor Rich Scroggins described layered approaches to mitigating power swings, including software-level controls and supercapacitors for extremely short-duration spikes.
Microgrids and grid costs
Soaring demand from data center developers, widespread integration of clean power, and dwindling grid capacity on regional networks have spurred investment and development in microgrid solutions. The U.S. microgrid market is forecast to rise from $8 billion in 2025 to $21.2 billion by 2030, and a $2.6 billion acquisition in September of Utility Innovation Group by Vertiv was cited. Scale Microgrids General Manager of Data Centers Mike Grunow told Reuters Events that Scale is working on multiple new data center projects ranging from 200 to 500 MW, with several expected to exceed 1 GW.
WTTW News said records filed by ComEd in an ongoing regulatory matter show that new infrastructure and system upgrades needed to connect 30 data centers to the grid will cost $3.1 billion. ComEd director of economic and workforce development Max Leichtman said, “The deposits that today stand at $721 million may continue to increase as these projects move forward and become more mature and more well-defined,” while consumer advocates warned ratepayers could face shortfalls.