Situation
A vertically integrated utility was experiencing significant interest from data center developers, with individual project requests representing substantial loads relative to the size of its existing system. Leadership needed to determine how to capture the economic and strategic benefits of this growth while managing uncertainty around project viability, infrastructure requirements, customer impacts, and the potential financial and operational risks associated with serving very large new loads.
Approach
A CRA Energy team helped the utility develop a comprehensive data center strategy spanning commercial, regulatory, system planning, and risk considerations. We assessed the pipeline of prospective projects and their likelihood and timing, evaluated alternative load-growth scenarios, and analyzed implications for generation, transmission, resource adequacy, and customer costs. We also supported the development of commercial structures and regulatory approaches designed to appropriately allocate costs and risks while allowing the utility to respond competitively to credible developers.
Result
The engagement provided management with an integrated framework for evaluating and prioritizing data center opportunities and making decisions about the investments required to serve them. The strategy helped the utility distinguish actionable projects from more speculative requests, establish clearer commercial and risk parameters, and align its approach to large-load growth with longer-term system planning and investment decisions.
