Clean Solutions Can Reliably Power Data Center Boom

RMI authors (Gabriella Tosado, Ashtin Massie, Joe Daniel) state that clean, resilient resources already exist to meet data center-driven electricity demand growth and that keeping aging coal plants online for reliability is misguided.

• Confirmed findings & data:>20% projected load growth by 2035 driven by data centers; Virginia accounts for 13% of global and 25% of US reported data center capacity; coal plant capacity accreditation often ~83% (ESIG/PJM) with examples like Colstrip at 54%; average coal cold-start >12 hours and typical ramp 4% per minute (~20+ minutes for large events); MISO congestion costs > $1 billion/year documented.
• Planned initiatives & concrete solutions: RMI finds >95% of future demand can be met with clean options including 50+ GW energy efficiency, 60 GW of VPPs by 2030 (with programs enrollable in under 6 months; Virginia bill requires 450 MW VPPs), 80+ GW incremental peak capacity from grid-enhancing transmission, 14 GW of retiring fossil sites available for clean repowering, and >30 GW Power Couples under $100/MWh (and >50 GW under $200/MWh). These are presented as implementable options rather than speculative outcomes.