{"id":355309,"date":"2024-12-19T08:35:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T07:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=355309"},"modified":"2024-12-19T08:35:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T07:35:56","slug":"outside-study-confirms-natural-gas-needed-to-run-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=355309","title":{"rendered":"Outside Study Confirms Natural Gas\u00a0Needed to Run Data Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Steve Haner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another analysis of the energy dilemma facing Virginia, this one commissioned by a Democrat-controlled legislative panel, has concluded that use of natural gas to make electricity is going to have to grow over coming decades, not shrink.  Virginia\u2019s anti-hydrocarbon energy laws are doomed to fail because of Virginia\u2019s global dominance in the data center industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new\u00a0150-page report<\/a>\u00a0takes its own look at Virginia\u2019s future energy demand and the best mix of generation to meet it.\u00a0 It reaches the conclusions Dominion Energy Virginia also reached in its most recent\u00a0integrated resource plan<\/a>.\u00a0 Data centers by themselves are driving an enormous future demand curve, as\u00a0Dominion claimed.<\/a>\u00a0 The abandonment of coal and natural gas demanded by the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) creates an energy deficit, even if the data center growth proves slower than the current projections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy consulting firm Energy + Environmental Economics (E3)<\/a> was retained by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC)<\/a> to look at the future electricity demand created by Virginia\u2019s prominent role in the data center industry.  Using proprietary models looking out to 2050, it produced several possible scenarios but all included expansion of natural gas and all caused significant rate increases, also a parallel conclusion from the Dominion IRP<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, this report projects natural gas must expand, and will remain necessary beyond the mandated retirement dates in the VCEA even if the data center growth doesn\u2019t happen<\/em>.  It plugs the gap in some scenarios by using hydrogen in place of natural gas in thermal energy plants.  But that remains an unproven, experimental technology not used at scale anywhere.  An entire very expensive infrastructure would be needed to create and transport the hydrogen to Virginia power plants.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only fantasy technology can comply with the fantasy VCEA.  The nuclear plants E3\u2019s scenarios envision are somewhat closer to reality, but still years if not decades away.  \u201cIn the absence of policy, there is still a significant role for coal and gas generation, comprising another ~30% of demand,\u201d the consultant reports.  This was on a slide marked \u201cNo Data Center Growth, No VCEA.\u201d Carbon emitting source are even more prominent on scenarios that include the demand growth, with some adding a new natural gas plant every two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia\u2019s average citizen ratepayers, those not advised by utility accountants and lawyers, have every reason to be wary.  Just about everybody in the room will have an employer or client they seek to protect or enrich, or a political boss dependent on campaign contributions from the companies present.  Utilities and green energy advocates are major funders of what remains of Virginia\u2019s news media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial rent seeking and political muscle helped put Virginia into this dilemma, a perfect example of the wise warning to be careful what you ask for.   Major financial incentives were created as far back as 2010 to lure the data centers to Virginia, as outlined in the JLARC report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state gives a major tax break on the sales taxes it would otherwise collect as the data centers are constructed and filled with computers.  The value of that tax subsidy was just under $1 billion in 2023, JLARC reports.  In many cases, the state tax lure is coupled with local incentives.  Virginia is also attractive because so much Internet fiber backbone runs through the state, and because federal government clients fill the landscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It worked. \u201cNorthern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world, constituting 13 percent of all reported data center operational capacity globally and 25 percent of capacity in the Americas,\u201d<\/em> JLARC reports.  There are also significant facilities in the Richmond area, a cluster in Southside Virginia (mostly Microsoft) and even a new giant facility proposed for Appomattox<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia\u2019s Democrats didn\u2019t want the lecture on energy reality they got from Dominion and have dismissed warnings against thermal energy retirements coming from the PJM Interconnection. Will a report from a consultant they commissioned get the message through?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another analysis of the energy dilemma facing Virginia, this one commissioned by a Democrat-controlled legislative panel, has concluded that use of natural gas to make electricity is going to have to grow over coming decades, not shrink.\u00a0 Virginia\u2019s anti-hydrocarbon energy laws are doomed to fail because of Virginia\u2019s global dominance in the data center industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":355311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691832055,691818128,691818376,691818417,691822571],"class_list":{"0":"post-355309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-anti-hydrocarbon-energy-laws","9":"tag-energy","10":"tag-natural-gas","11":"tag-virginia","12":"tag-virginia-clean-economy-act-vcea","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/02024-06-11_09-27-44-2.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1uqN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":223466,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=223466","url_meta":{"origin":355309,"position":0},"title":"Gov. 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