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Faster-than-Expected Data Center Load Growth May Cause Increased Regional Short-term Fossil Fuel Generation and Wholesale Electricity Prices

LCG, March 18, 2026--The EIA released a new "In-depth Analysis" of the potential impact of faster-than-expected near-term growth in data center power demand on power generation and wholesale prices on March 12. The analysis models the lower 48 states through 2027 and compares results to its base case scenario. Key takeaway from this sensitivity analysis is the potential increase in fossil fuels in some regions and potentially a significant increase in wholesale prices in ERCOT.

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Faster-than-Expected Data Center Load Growth May Cause Increased Regional Short-term Fossil Fuel Generation and Wholesale Electricity Prices

LCG, March 18, 2026--The EIA released a new "In-depth Analysis" of the potential impact of faster-than-expected near-term growth in data center power demand on power generation and wholesale prices on March 12. The analysis models the lower 48 states through 2027 and compares results to its base case scenario. Key takeaway from this sensitivity analysis is the potential increase in fossil fuels in some regions and potentially a significant increase in wholesale prices in ERCOT.

Read more

Industry News

Ex-Enron Employee Pleads Guilty to Fraud

LCG, August 21, 2002-Former Enron corporate executive Michael Kopper pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering today.

Kopper's guilty plea was entered in Federal District Court in Houston, Texas, before Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. He has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators and also to pay back $12 million in illicitly acquired assets.

Kopper was involved with off-the-books partnerships, often helping Enron chief financial officer Andrew S. Fastow, with whom he had a close and financially complicated relationship. Fastow's dealing are a central focus of multiple investigations.

Chewco, an Enron partnership formed in 1997, was one of the Enron projects where financial statements deviated from the actual accounts. Three percent of the partnership's capital was to be from independent investors, and Kopper, along with others, worked to cover up the fact that the three percent had not been met. Enron bought out the partnership in 2001. Kopper and his domestic partner William Dodson reaped over $12 million from the sale, after an initial investment of $125,000.

Although Kopper is not the spotlight of the ongoing federal investigation of Enron, he is valued by investigators as a possible witness and has been released on a $5 million bond.

The Securities and Exchange Commission may file a civil fraud complaint against Kopper as well.

Kopper resigned from Enron in June of 2001. Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001.

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