Volts Doing data centers the not-dumb way
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Apr 15, 2026 
Jigar Shah, clean‑energy entrepreneur and former DOE loan office lead, weighs in on booming data center power needs. He skewers on‑site natural gas plants and explains how cycling wrecks equipment and destabilizes grids. He outlines smarter paths: shared capacity, flexible interconnection, VPPs, batteries, and policy fixes to unlock underused grid resources.
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Grid Utilization Is Cheap Capacity
- Grid utilization is a political and technical narrative: today's grids run far below historical utilization, so unlocking existing capacity is cheaper than building new plants.
- Shah and the Utilize Coalition pitch advanced conductors, VPPs, and batteries to exploit paid-for but curtailed generation.
Google Replaced A Gas Plan With A Big Battery In Minnesota
- Google re-engineered a proposed Excel natural gas build by offering a larger Form Energy battery alternative after local opposition.
- Excel agreed the battery approach could work, and Google moved forward with the non-gas deal.
Force Utilities To Share Utilization Data
- Require utilities to publish utilization metrics so third parties can identify circuit-level spare capacity.
- Deploy Action's Virginia law forces Dominion to share utilization data, enabling solutions like Camus's analysis.