Rising Power, Rising Demand: How the Mountain West is Managing the Data Center Surge
At the recent Infocast Mountain West Renewables conference, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on a topic that’s top of mind for many professionals in the energy sector right now: managing load growth as data centers expand across the Mountain West.
Our panel convened data center owners and operators, power engineers, tech providers, and grid policy experts, including:
George Chacon, Technical Director of Interconnection Services, Electric Power Engineers
Travis Wright, Vice President of Energy and Sustainability, QTS
Joe Kalal, Business Development Director, Flexgen
Vijay Satyal, Deputy Director of Markets and Transmission, Clean Energy, Western Resource Advocates
We kicked off by framing the scale of the opportunity — and the challenge. Data center power demand is projected to triple nationally over the next three years, potentially accounting for up to 12% of the nation's electricity. Regional utilities here in the Mountain West are forecasting demand to surge more than 50% in the next decade.
Transmission & Interconnection
When it comes to transmission and interconnection, panelists emphasized that location is extremely important. A data center close to existing resources faces few transmission challenges, while one in a remote area can lead to costly infrastructure expansions. Travis Wright explained, “We love partnering with utilities that tell us where to go. Sometimes very stranded assets can be monetized and modernized through these partnerships, putting downward pressure on community residential rates.”
As George Chacon emphasized, there are ample generation resources available — solar, wind, batteries, and conventional power. The challenge, he noted, is the interconnection process itself. If you consider the load and generation in a more combined manner, he said, you don’t need to plan as much transmission. The key, he suggested, is integrating load planning and generation planning to reduce unnecessary transmission costs and improve grid efficiency.
Flexible interconnection solutions are also gaining traction. Developers can commit to partial availability or time-limited capacity, giving the grid predictability while still meeting operational needs.
Communications
The panel also briefly touched on grid operations and communication. Travis Wright emphasized the importance of communication between large data centers and grid operators. “Grid operators often have strong communication protocols with generation assets, but zero communication with large loads. There’s a real opportunity to improve that.”
Joe Kalal reinforced this point from a storage perspective: “We don’t really have a power problem so much as a four-hour power problem. If we could communicate during those four hours and just do basic demand response, a lot of these problems could be solved.”
Vijay Satyal also noted the need for more communication from data center builders. “Data centers are being planned — when they will come online, where they will be, and at what capacity — but those details are not often openly discussed.” Utilities, regulators, and developers all need transparency and collaboration to optimize infrastructure planning and avoid speculative projections that can skew planning.
Speed to Power
One of the most interesting parts of the panel for me was about the concept of “speed to power,” or getting power as quickly as possible for data centers, as well as “bring your own power,” which some on the panel rephrased as “bring your own ancillary.”
Speed to power emerges particularly in conversations about hyperscale projects where timelines are aggressive. Travis Wright noted that utilities often take longer to connect new loads than it takes developers to build a facility. “There’s an appetite to put in a bridge solution — temporary power behind the meter — but it’s not a long-term fix,” he said.
Panelists agreed that data centers could operate similarly to generation assets, offering flexibility, demand response, and ancillary services to support the grid.
Joe Kalal added that projects leveraging storage and software controls — what he called “bring your own ancillary” — are becoming essential to smooth load fluctuations at scale, particularly for AI-driven data centers with tens of thousands of GPUs ramping in synchronization.
Electricity Rates
Policy and rate structures were another critical focus. Panelists discussed customized electric rates for data centers, ensuring they pay their fair share of infrastructure costs without shifting costs onto residential customers. Travis Wright emphasized that data centers are active partners with utilities, entering long-term contracts to support generation and network upgrades.
Looking Ahead: Takeaways
The energy landscape in the Mountain West is rapidly evolving, and data centers are at the center of this transformation. As Joe Kallal summed it up: “This is the best thing in the world for America. Companies want to invest billions of dollars as fast as possible, and we’re all sitting here worrying about a power problem. It’s a gift, not a problem.”
As the resident strategic communications representative on the panel, I approached things from a communications perspective. As with many things, narrative framing is crucial here. If we shift the story from “data centers are a burden” to “data centers are partners in a dynamic, growing energy ecosystem,” we can move forward faster. Communicators play a significant role in fostering early and frequent engagement among utility, developer, regulator, and community stakeholders. There’s also a strong push for innovation-focused storytelling -- solutions like storage, flexible interconnection, and behind-the-meter ancillary services demonstrate that the industry is proactively solving complex problems.
As I wrapped up the panel, it was clear that the conversation isn’t just about power demand, but about how the industry communicates and collaborates to maximize opportunity. The Infocast Mountain West Renewables conference provided a perfect forum for this discussion, and I hope the insights shared will resonate with energy PR firms and professionals looking to tell compelling, accurate stories in an era of rapid technological growth.