Inside data centers: What massive projects mean for power, water and noise
Data centers, exemplified by NTT's Ashburn campus, consume immense amounts of electricity, comparable to small cities. The grid operator PJM projects that data centers will drive nearly all electricity demand growth in the Mid-Atlantic region in the coming years. While data center companies cover their own infrastructure costs, this increased demand could impact the supply portion of consumer electric bills.
The NBC10 investigators gained access inside an NTT Global Data Center on its Ashburn campus to examine the power demands of these massive facilities. Bruno Berti, overseeing operations, explained that one building alone uses enough electricity to power over 10,000 homes, and the entire campus consumes as much power as a city the size of Allentown.
Grid operator PJM anticipates that data centers will account for almost all new electricity demand in the Mid-Atlantic region, encompassing Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia, over the next several years. Benjamin Lee, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Penn, notes that while data centers have existed for 20 years, their size has significantly increased.
NTT stated it covers the costs for the necessary infrastructure and power connections to its campus. However, the utility company Pico warned that while data centers should pay for grid upgrades necessitated by their connection, the overall increased demand from these facilities could still impact the supply portion of consumer electric bills.