{"id":577926,"date":"2026-04-07T20:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ece\/?post_type=news&#038;p=577926"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:42:09","slug":"a-smarter-way-to-power-data-centers-could-save-billions","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ece\/news\/a-smarter-way-to-power-data-centers-could-save-billions\/","title":{"rendered":"A Smarter Way to Power Data Centers Could Save Billions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The artificial intelligence revolution is driving up demand for electricity across the PJM Interconnection Region, a regional transmission organization that coordinates wholesale electricity markets in 13 states, including Maryland, plus the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n<p>The increased demand for electrons is sending electricity costs soaring, with grid reliability expected to fall below targets by mid-2027. The growth of data center electricity demand is also showing no signs of slowing, with PJM projected to add almost 30 gigawatts of new demand by 2028 \u2013 the equivalent of adding the data electricity demand of Baltimore to the PJM grid each year.<\/p>\n<p><span>Researchers at Johns Hopkins\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/energyinstitute.jhu.edu\/\">Ralph O\u2019Connor Sustainable Energy Institute<\/a><span>\u00a0analyzed\u00a0several of the leading reform\u00a0efforts,\u00a0focusing on\u00a0whether\u00a0data center flexibility requirements,\u00a0including the \u201cconnect &amp; manage\u201d program\u00a0currently under consideration by PJM,\u00a0could put the brakes on rapidly increasing electricity rates and help the grid remain reliably.\u00a0The findings are detailed in\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/energyinstitute.jhu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Data_Center_Analysis_PJM-March-20-2026.pdf\">a new report<\/a><span>\u00a0intended\u00a0to information\u00a0legislative and regulatory reform efforts across the region as policymakers try to thread the needle on securing the economic benefits of the AI revolution without raising costs for consumers or diminishing grid reliability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cOur analysis demonstrates that requiring data centers to accept occasional power interruptions saves over $15 billion per year for the whole PJM region. If we translate these savings into each customer or household, it would be roughly $200 for every person in PJM, or about $1,000 for every household,\u201d says<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/faculty\/uzi-yury-dvorkin\/\">Yury Dvorkin<\/a><span>, a core researcher with ROSEI who is also an associate professor of<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ece\/\">electrical and computer engineering<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><span>and<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/\">civil and systems engineering<\/a><span>. \u201cThese savings can be realized if we find a way to coordinate data center and power grid operations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/news\/a-smarter-way-to-power-data-centers-could-save-billions\/\">Read the full article.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-577926","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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