Need power? Who doesn’t? Need it right away? Get in line.
As Site Selection Executive Vice President Ron Starner told an audience at the Minnesota Rural Electric Association in August, the requests for large-load power supply today are unprecedented. They come primarily (but not exclusively) from the more than 600 data center projects in the U.S. tracked by Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database since January 2020.
Power is always in the driver’s seat for these investments: JLL said in August that the average wait time for a grid connection in the U.S. has now reached four years.
Site Selection’s annual survey asked utility economic development leaders how they are responding. Here are excerpts from responses we received:
Alabama Power: “As we evaluate where our electrical system can serve very large loads, communities need to evaluate what types of projects they want to prioritize. Alabama Power has taken the lead role in educating the candidate communities on the needs and interests of these unique prospects. From a utility perspective, Alabama Power has formed a cross-functional committee comprised of members in economic development, resource planning, sales, transmission, regulatory and others to discuss the current state of economic development activity and upcoming opportunities and challenges. Alabama Power is evaluating opportunities to site new generation while minimizing the risk to existing rate payers. We are evaluating the challenges and our approach in providing service plans and capacity studies in this fast-evolving environment. However, we are confident that site development efforts will be enhanced by planning for future growth.”
American Electric Power: In response to the pressing issues of power provision and workforce challenges faced by industrial companies nationwide, our economic development team has implemented a series of strategic initiatives in collaboration with operations and external stakeholders. In recent years, numerous data centers have concentrated in Central Ohio, served by AEP Ohio, making the region one of the leading markets nationwide. As we entered 2024, we were even more proactive in showcasing viable sites in other parts of our 11-state service territory. We identified large load sites in cooperation with our communities to make sure we were aligned on future development. These sites had access to the right infrastructure from both the electric and water system standpoint, as well as community backing to support the entitlement processes. This change has led to serious negotiations with several hyperscalers for new projects, which have already begun to materialize in other AEP operating companies. Additionally, we are witnessing a surge in developer activity, as opportunistic developers aim to secure sites in anticipation of future capacity needs. To accommodate the expected doubling of electricity demand driven largely by data centers by 2030, AEP Ohio plans to invest $4.9 billion in our capital plan from 2025 to 2029. This investment will focus on expanding and strengthening our distribution and transmission operations to support this unprecedented growth while ensuring that costs are managed effectively for our existing customers. Several of our operating companies have taken industry-leading steps to propose unique new tariffs to address these very large load customers. This will result in AEP operating companies being able to make necessary improvements to our systems and acquire/build the infrastructure needed without spreading significant risk to our entire customer base. This was a proactive move that set the stage for legislation enacted or being considered in 2025.
South Carolina Power Team: South Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives maintain focus on providing reliable and affordable power for all our members. While our system is experiencing unprecedented growth with industrial wins, commercial opportunities and a rapidly growing population, that commitment to our current members is still prioritized. We have demonstrated flexibility and creativity to complex power issues and will always strive for a suitable solution for current and potential members. Like many of our utility partners, we are not different and continue to face many challenges with generation and transmission capacity and supply chain issues. These issues have significantly impacted our ability to respond quickly to specific projects; however, with these challenges come great opportunity. We are in the process of modernizing our infrastructure and positioning ourselves to continue and be a critical partner in the success of South Carolina for years to come.
The biggest challenge remains meeting customers’ accelerated timelines for service.
ComEd: The biggest challenge remains meeting customers’ accelerated timelines for service. Working with our parent company Exelon, ComEd helps customers engineer project plans to account for supply chain issues that have impacted delivery times for major equipment such as transformers, circuit breakers and switchgear control buildings. To mitigate this, ComEd collects long lead material deposits very early in the engineering process to secure manufacturing production slots from our vendor/supplier network. To help the situation further, we launched a corporate effort to reduce lead times for new onsite substations for large customers. This involves conducting detailed engineering for new ComEd standard 138 and 345kV customer substations. In addition, we are purchasing long lead materials for these substations. Combining the ready-made plans and layouts with stocked equipment means new substations can be deployed more quickly with minor site-specific enhancements.
Consumers Energy: Consumers Energy’s economic development and energy supply teams continue to build on an already robust, proactive, collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship. As requests for new electric load come larger and faster than ever, the combination of “early and often” communication and processes that parse concrete needs from speculation help both organizations respond at the speed of business. In May 2025, the State of Michigan, Consumers Energy and DTE announced an innovative public-private partnership to grow Michigan’s energy supply chain. The utilities committed to invest a combined $3.5 billion annually to purchase energy technology, equipment and services from Michigan-based businesses. The State, Consumers Energy and DTE will identify in-state suppliers, help them retool to meet the energy sector’s needs and connect them with resources to grow and compete. The partnership will reduce lead times and customer costs for critical energy infrastructure and components.
As the world experiences a surge in electricity demand, [we are] implementing strategies to meet specific power requirements of large projects.
Dominion Energy: As the world experiences a surge in electricity demand, Dominion Energy is implementing strategies to meet specific power requirements of large projects.
We understand the critical role energy plays in successful economic development efforts. No single power source, grid solution or energy efficiency program will reliably serve the unprecedented growth in power demand. We need a comprehensive, ‘all of the above’ strategy, and Dominion Energy’s long-term plans include a balanced, diversified mix of new power generation needed to provide reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to our customers.
Duke Energy: When we work with data centers, the collaborations are based on the needs of those data centers balanced with protection for existing customers to ensure reliability and affordability for all customers. Duke Energy plans for increased demand as part of an integrated resource plan process. We are executing the largest infrastructure build we’ve ever undertaken, with a focus on the most cost-effective resources.
Entergy: Creative partnerships with prospective customers are key. Additionally, alignment with regulators, such as the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and constructive regulation is necessary. Entergy’s partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Mississippi is a prime example of the company’s collaborative approach. Over the course of six years, Entergy Mississippi worked closely with AWS to ensure a smooth and efficient transition for the company’s $10 billion investment in the state, which includes two new data center campuses.
In Louisiana, Entergy’s economic development team has contributed to multiple wins across the state, including the Meta artificial intelligence data center project. To support the growing demand, the first phase of Entergy Louisiana’s comprehensive grid resilience plan was approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission in 2024, with work commencing across the state. Over the next five years, this plan will fortify and expand infrastructure to supply the historic growth of new and expanding businesses announced throughout the state.
Georgia Power: We assisted the state in identifying and analyzing potential new megasite locations, while collaborating with our internal Area Planning and Customer Choice groups to identify top sites for electric capacity and assist with site matching for data centers. We also created and designed proprietary GIS-based tools to help our operations manage the large projects load queue in real time since requests were moving so fast. Site characteristics and needs were changing quickly, and having the ability to adjust our own systems and add improvements was a competitive advantage. The biggest obstacles were the large number of requests, new processes needed to implement to handle these requests and a thoughtful approach on how to prioritize the queue and charge appropriately to ensure costs are not assumed by other customers. We assisted with the former and our internal operations rolled out new provisions for the latter. To meet customer loads, our processes, forecasting risk model, internal communication, pricing structures and expansion of energy offerings all had to change and adapt.
…New processes needed to implement to handle requests and a thoughtful approach on how to prioritize the queue and charge appropriately to ensure costs are not assumed by other customers.
To serve unprecedented energy load demand due to economic success, the company filed a 2023 IRP Update between three-year cycles to ask the Georgia PSC for additional load. They also presented and received approval for an update to Georgia Power’s rules and regulations to ensure large load customers over 100 MWs continue to pay for their costs to serve. These changes are being implemented to ensure Georgia Power recovers costs from large-load customers directly, preventing other customers from bearing these costs. This extraordinary growth also has the opportunity to put downward pressure on rates for all customers over time.
Power provision has become one of the most pressing issues for industrial development, and [we are] is meeting this challenge head-on.
Hoosier Energy: Power provision has become one of the most pressing issues for industrial development, and Hoosier Energy is meeting this challenge head-on. Since 2021, we’ve seen a surge in large, complex projects — data centers, EV supply chain facilities, and semiconductor fabs — requiring unprecedented power capacity and speed to market. In response, we launched a comprehensive, cross-functional initiative to align internal operations, member cooperatives and external stakeholders around a shared growth strategy. Working closely with our member distribution cooperatives, we developed a pro-growth economic development strategy that emphasizes flexibility, optionality, and speed — key attributes for serving today’s high-demand projects. This includes Board-approved incentives, such as revised load class structures and an updated economic development rider, designed to give our members a competitive edge. We also conducted a data-driven review of our infrastructure and available sites, identifying opportunities to proactively invest in upgrades that reduce time-to-power and improve site competitiveness. This work is supported by our $411 million transmission modernization plan, which is enhancing grid reliability and capacity across our 1,720-mile network.
Indiana Municipal Power Agency: To ensure we continue to serve our members and their customers with ample and reliable power, IMPA is forecasting and planning our long-term resource transformation through 2060, including the construction of additional generation as needed. Obstacles and opportunities we’re seeing across the electric utility industry include:
- Limited availability of large swaths of power that can be accessed in often short, aggressive timelines
- Protecting Joint Action Agency and member financial interests due to high cost of required infrastructure upgrades
- Distinguishing legitimate prospects versus those only “kicking the tires”
- Long lead times for equipment
- Interest from multiple competing prospects considering a single site.
LG&E and KU Energy LLC: Utilities like LKE are navigating a landscape shaped by rising customer expectations, supply chain pressures, and evolving regulatory and policy environments. Since 2018, LKE have made Economic Development (ED) a core mission. Our ED team plays an integral role not only in managing projects and supporting communities, but also in companywide planning efforts. This includes contributing to the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), participating in long-term infrastructure strategy and helping shape regulatory and public policy. Our IRP provides a 15-year roadmap for meeting new and emerging electric load demands and was filed in 2024. The ED team informs this plan with real-time data about project trends and anticipated customer needs. This internal collaboration helps us ensure we are planning infrastructure that is responsive to economic growth and large-scale industrial activity.
The Companies also filed to construct new generation resources primarily driven by the projection of future ED load including large manufacturing and data centers. Information from the ED team, including the pipeline of opportunities, timing of decisions, location of projects and probabilities of project announcements all generated through our CRM system have been a primary input to the case. An approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission presents an opportunity to create a competitive advantage for Kentucky and the communities in the LKE service territories. Generation resources are projected by some to be constrained throughout the U.S. as early as 2030, so having ample capacity to serve ED load may set us apart from the competition and potentially unlock billions in capital investment resulting in substantial tax revenue for local communities and Kentucky as a whole.
Mississippi Power: Large load industrial and data center project inquiries have been very active in MPC’s territory. To manage this activity and ensure rapid responses to inquiries, MPC took a proactive approach by collaborating over several months with our generation planning and power delivery teams. Our team identified key industrial sites that could service large electrical loads within a competitive timeline. Detailed discussions took place with the local developers of those sites to ensure other adequate infrastructure and resources were available. MPC developed presentation material to proactively market these sites for specific large load projects. Leads were generated along with marketing to site location consultants and data center companies. The successful location of Compass Data Centers resulted from this effort through lead generation and marketing to their company. Additionally, MPC has developed a process to facilitate the volume of requests. A large load intake form was created specifically for data center projects to have a better understanding of their needs and requirements. This intake form was a collaboration of the generation planning, power delivery, rates and finance teams within Mississippi Power.
Nebraska Public Power District: To meet growing demand and ensure a fair, transparent process for projects seeking to be energized, we worked with a customer working group to design a New Load Process. The process requires projects to provide financial security in the form of a Generation Security Deposit, which is returned once all requirements are met. NPPD’s board of directors approved the Generation Security Deposit Policy in June 2024 to help not only provide clarity for developers but also protect existing ratepayers from undue financial risk for projects that end up not coming to fruition. We continue to engage with policy makers, local developers and business and industry to help with the messaging that Nebraska is open for business and helping all parties understand the complexities of the electrical grid to help ensure the reliability, stability and affordability that we have all come to known and expect in Nebraska.
PECO, an Exelon Company: As multiple large-load requests have continued to pour in, our team has remained focused on developing and delivering clear, actionable paths forward to support these customers. This includes early-stage engagement, high-level feasibility assessments and collaboration on the detailed design and infrastructure required to meet their specific needs. The primary challenge is the pace and scale of recent load growth. PECO is seeing an unprecedented surge in large, multi-megawatt requests ranging from 2 MW to 1,200 MW with compressed time-frame requests. These projects, primarily from data centers and other large industrial users, require complex engineering, coordination across multiple departments and careful alignment with regional transmission planning. Historically, the region has not faced this level of rapid, large-scale demand in such a short period. Despite this, the opportunity is equally exciting. To meet this challenge and capture the opportunity, PECO developed and implemented a successful, structured process that provides a clear path forward for customers. Our Economic Development Team begins by conducting a high-level review of each request, then coordinates with Engineering, Transmission, and Substation teams to perform feasibility studies and develop detailed infrastructure plans. This integrated process allows us to evaluate multiple high-impact projects efficiently, aligned with PJM requirements and streamline internal workflows to accelerate delivery.
PowerSouth: Exponential advancement of artificial intelligence, expansion of cloud technology, and the growth of data centers — these are the main factors driving an unprecedented surge in electric demand and straining electric utilities across the country. PowerSouth, like many other utilities, is developing long-term strategies to ensure success for industries and communities served by its members. Surging demands have restricted the overall energy market, limiting capacity that PowerSouth could otherwise purchase to prevent shortfalls, support industry expansions and locations, and power organic growth. Under the direction of PowerSouth’s Board of Trustees and a cross-divisional Large Load Task Force, the cooperative in 2024 took steps to welcome positive growth while protecting its core value of providing reliable and affordable power. PowerSouth’s balanced, common-sense approach favors always-on capacity like nuclear and coal over the expansion of intermittent, supplemental renewables. The cooperative also emphasized the importance of accurate load forecasting to wisely plan for future generation assets. PowerSouth also worked closely with its distribution members to identify emerging economic development opportunities and developed a campaign, themed Staying Power, to help members communicate with their end-users on the impact of energy policies and the realities of providing uninterrupted power at the most affordable cost possible.
