US power system regulator sends alert over rising data center grid risks

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. grid regulator issued an alert on Monday over increasing threats that data centers and the growth of very large energy users pose to the stability of the country's electrical system.

• The level-three alert by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or NERC, followed observations by the group of rapid fluctuations in the way large electricity users - primarily data centers - interact with the grid.

• "NERC observed customer-initiated large load reductions and significant oscillations that occur in seconds, leaving little or no room for real-time responses," the non-profit organization said.

• With the alert, NERC asked entities, including grid operators and equipment manufacturers, to implement a list of recommended actions to help safeguard the electric system.

• It also issued new voluntary guidelines to protect the grid's reliability aimed at data centers and other new, very large energy users.