Electricity Demand and Heat

A heat advisory has been in effect all week as sweltering, humid heat has blanked the Washington Metropolitan area. In these last few days I have been most grateful to have air conditioning (something I did not have until 2007 when we moved to Virginia, so it still seems like a wonder). 

Cooling takes energy. The heat has impacted the demand for electricity, not only for cooling all our homes, but also for keeping the data centers throughout the region cool enough to prevent damage to their computer equipment. The electricity that powers our lives- charges our phones, powers the internet, equipment, lights, homes, office, air conditioning and soon everything else is there when we need it because of the power grid, an interconnected system that keeps electricity flowing to our homes and businesses every moment of every day.

from PJM

PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission grid operator, works behind the scenes to ensure the reliability of the power grid and to keep the lights on. PJM is our regional transmission organization that takes responsibility for grid operations, reliability, and transmission service within 13 states and the District of Columbia: Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. As part of that mission PJM forecasts the demand and makes sure the power generation is available to meet that need. 

PJM has issued (another) Hot Weather Alert for today July 10, 2024 the weather is forecast to let up somewhat in the next few days. PJM served a peak demand of of 146,947 MW (which matched last summer's peak demand) on July 8, 2024 and a peak of 144,400 MW on July 9th 2024.Overall, PJM is projecting a higher peak demand for electricity this summer of approximately 151,000 MW compared with the 2023 summer peak load of 147,000 MW. 

During Hot Weather Alerts PJM members are expected to review plans to determine if any maintenance/testing, scheduled/being performed, on any monitoring, control, transmission/generating equipment can be deferred/canceled to ensure that the grid keep operating. We have power today because Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia are net generators of power these days.

from PJM

From the Energy Information Administration (EIA):

Though consumption of electricity in the U.S. commercial sector has recovered from pandemic levels, that recovery has not been uniform. Annual U.S. sales of electricity to commercial customers in 2023 reached 14 billion kilowatthours (BkWh), or 1%, more than in 2019. However, electricity demand growth has been concentrated in a handful of states experiencing rapid development of large-scale  data centers.

Electricity demand has grown the most in Virginia. Virginia has become a major hub for data centers, with 94 new facilities connected since 2019 given the access to a densely packed fiber backbone and to four subsea fiber cables. Electricity demand also grew substantially in Texas which has attracted a high concentration of data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations. Electricity demand has grown  by 14 BkWh in Virginia and 13 BkWh in Texas. 

from EIA

Commercial electricity demand in the 10 states with the most electricity demand growth increased by a combined 42 BkWh between 2019 and 2023, representing growth of 10% in those states over that four-year period. All this growth is attributed to demand of large scale computing facilities. By contrast, demand in the forty other states decreased by 28 BkWh over the same period, a 3% decline.