Demand on ComEd’s grid barely moved from 2009 to 2022. Now the utility expects about 10 gigawatts of data centers to connect by around 2030, against an all-time peak of 23 gigawatts.

ComEd’s CEO, Gil Quiniones, wants to connect those data centers without raising everyone else’s bills. Rooftop solar and batteries, which many utilities have fought, are part of his plan.

Gil spent 16 years at Con Edison and more than a decade running the New York Power Authority. While he ran the Power Authority, he and Jigar worked on the state’s push to build the grid around energy that customers make and store at home.

In Chicago, he’s starting with the families who can least afford their bills. A pilot this winter will put solar and batteries in about 50 of their homes with no money down.

Gil thinks the setup could take about $70 off a monthly bill that typically runs $100 to $120.

Recorded live at Future Currence during Climate Week NYC.

In this episode:

• How deposits and letters of credit shrank ComEd’s list of serious data center requests from about 18 gigawatts to 10

• Why Jigar says a data center’s voluntary promise to power down in an emergency isn’t good enough

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• What ComEd has to prove to regulators before it can build a new substation

• The 100 hours a year the grid is built for, and what using the rest of the year could do for bills

• Whether other utilities need a new state law to do what ComEd is doing

Links:

Future Currence: https://future.currence.ai

ComEd: https://www.comed.com

The Untapped Grid (Brattle Group): https://www.brattle.com/the-untapped-grid/

Illinois Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act: https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-historic-clean-and-reliable-grid-affordability-act

More from Energy Empire:

The Cheapest Grid Is the One We Already Paid For: https://www.energyempire.fm/episodes/the-cheapest-grid-is-the-one-we-already-paid-for

Inside California’s Plan to Fix the Utility Business Model with Senator Josh Becker: https://www.energyempire.fm/episodes/inside-california-s-plan-to-fix-the-utility-business-model-with-senator-josh-becker

NVIDIA on Whether AI Can Fix Its Own Power Problem: https://www.energyempire.fm/episodes/nvidia-on-whether-ai-can-fix-its-own-power-problem-recorded-live-at-climate-week-nyc

Our merch store: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/collection/all-products