In this virtual briefing, three Duke University experts—Tyler Norris and Dalia Patiño-Echeverri (Nicholas School of the Environment) and Tim Profeta (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)—discussed their new national-scale analysis of how the existing U.S. power system can accommodate data centers and other large new loads without requiring major generation and transmission expansion.

Researchers from Duke University have said that integrating more flexibility into U.S. power grids could help provide the energy needed to power future load growth, particularly the electricity needed to support artificial intelligence and data centers, reports POWER. The group discussed the findings of their recent study in a Feb. 19 webinar.

In an op-ed for Utility Dive, energy policy experts Peter Freed and Allison Clements write that rational standardization of large load-side interconnection could help regulators across the country address the challenges and opportunities that new electricity demand poses for customer protection, grid reliability and economic development. Freed and Clements note that new rules may be needed to design opportunities for flexible interconnection subject to curtailment as described in a recent study by Duke scholars.

A new Nicholas Institute report has determined that data center operators could unlock up to 76 GW of new capacity in the United States by curtailing their energy use during periods of grid stress, writes Data Center Dynamics.

At a time of increasing power demand concerns in the United States, a new study from Duke University has found significant potential for load integration onto the power grid should flexibility measures be taken, reports Smart Energy International.

Citing recent Nicholas Institute research, TechCrunch reports that by limiting power drawn from the grid to 90 percent of the maximum for a couple hours at a time—for a total of about a day per year—76 GW of load capacity could be unlocked in the United States.

A new study from Duke University says the existing power system could handle much of the demand growth expected in the coming years with no additional generation if artificial intelligence data centers can be persuaded to cut their energy use by as little as 1 percent during times of peak demand, reports RTO Insider.

A new study from the Nicholas Institute finds that the U.S. power system has significant untapped potential to integrate new large electricity loads while minimizing the need for costly infrastructure upgrades. "Our study demonstrates that the existing US power system—designed to manage extreme peak demand fluctuations—could accommodate significant load additions with modest flexibility measures," lead author Tyler Norris told T&D World.

A new Nicholas Institute study finds the U.S. power system has extensive untapped potential to more quickly add data centers and other new large energy loads while mitigating the need for costly system upgrades—as long as those loads can occasionally cut their power use when the grid is most stressed.

The existing U.S. energy grid can handle significant new loads, such as data centers, factories and electric vehicles, as long as they can be curtailed when the electric system is stressed, according to a report by Nicholas Institute researchers. The analysis, focusing on flexible load strategies to more quickly integrate new loads, was reported on by Utility Dive.