EnergyOnline
Services

RSS FEED

EnergyOnline.com rss

News

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

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

ERCOT Ready for Texas Dereg on New Year's Day

LCG, Dec. 7, 2001--With the Public Utilities Commission of Texas set to give the final green light for retail electric competition in the Lone Star State, the state's independent system operator says it is ready for the January 1 opening of the electric market.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, one of ten regional councils of the north American Electric Reliability Council, is the ISO for the state, and will manage its transmission system under deregulation.

"Fundamentally, I think it (is) clear to everyone that the system is ready to go forward," Tom Noel, ERCOT chief executive, said. "Unless we have a major hiccup, we expect to be in full retail choice operations on January 1, 2002."

Final go-ahead for the program could come today at the PUCT's Friday meeting, or early next week. At today's meeting, the commission is expected to set a base price for Texas' local utilities to charge customers.

Local utilities would not be allowed to sell power below the base price, which would be the price that alternative suppliers would have to beat to induce customers to switch. The base price will remain in effect for three years or until a utility loses 40 percent of its customers to competition.

"This is intended to set a bright line against which new competitors can compete," Noel said.

Noel expects none of the problems that afflicted California's attempt to deregulate its electric industry. "We've been working hard on this for seven years. California worked on it only two. And we've had a retail pilot program in place for the past seven months, which gave us a chance to work out the bugs," he said.

Copyright © 2026 LCG Consulting. All rights reserved. Terms and Copyright
UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
Uniform Storage Model
A Battery Simulation Model
UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
CAISO CRR Auctions
Monthly Price and Congestion Forecasting Service