Surviving the Data Center Power Crunch

Utility executives are recognizing the need for smarter, data-driven strategies...

As the buildout for power-hungry data centers continues, electric utilities face unprecedented stress on their grids. In the United States alone, data centers are expected to jump from using 4.4% of electricity in 2023 to as high as 12% by 2028. Globally, AI-focused data centers are driving demand even higher, and our power needs could grow by over thirtyfold into 2035.

One thing’s clear: This surge is straining generation and transmission capacity. Some regions are already struggling to provide sufficient power and manage grid capacity for new data center loads. In a Deloitte survey, 72% of power and data center executives say meeting load growth is extremely challenging due to grid capacity constraints. While 81% of data center operators prioritized making infrastructure more intelligent and 90% emphasized technological innovation to boost efficiency.

In response, utilities are readying massive investment plans to expand and modernize infrastructure. Yet throwing capital at the problem is only part of the solution. To truly stay above water amid this electricity crunch, utility executives recognize the need for smarter, data-driven strategies.

This means leveraging digital solutions – particularly geospatial data and automation – to optimize operations and tackle grid challenges. What follows is a closer look at how better spatial insight, cleaner data, and automated rules engines can help utilities manage load growth, speed up planning, and build the kind of grid that keeps pace with the data-center era.

The Power of Geospatial Data for Grid Resilience

Why is geospatial data so critical in this context? Electric networks are inherently spatial, with power flowing from generators to substations to consumers across vast physical networks. Knowing the exact location and status of assets, customers, and environmental factors in a unified view is at the heart of effective grid management.

Utilities need to pinpoint where infrastructure upgrades are needed (for instance, identifying feeder lines nearing capacity due to a new data center), how to reroute power in emergencies, and where to integrate new resources like solar farms or battery storage.

However, many utilities struggle with fragmented, outdated data. Asset information often lives in silos, in different formats and coordinate systems, with accuracy issues and gaps. Manual processes for updating GIS or asset databases can’t keep up with the fast pace of change – leading to backlogs and blind spots. An effective response to rapid change depends on better knowledge and insight, and data technology can help ... but only if the input data is high-quality and current.

This is where 1Spatial comes in...

1Spatial has deep experience managing some of the world’s largest geospatial databases, and we use that expertise to automate and streamline location data workflows. The result is that utilities can handle much larger volumes of data, much faster and more accurately, than with traditional methods, which yields numerous benefits such as:

• Increased efficiency: Teams across the enterprise can collaborate with a consistent flow of accessible information, breaking down data silos.
• Improved planning and agility: With deeper insight into the network and demand patterns, utilities can respond faster – getting the right information to the right people at the right time for decision-making. For example, planners can quickly identify which substations need upgrades to serve a new load, or operators can reroute power around a constrained line.
• Enhanced reliability and safety: Complete, validated data enables predictive analytics to prevent outages and asset failures. Gaps or errors in network data can lead to safety incidents or delays in outage restoration; eliminating those gaps improves overall safety and service reliability.

In short, a single source of truth for the grid (kept continuously up to date) is becoming indispensable for utilities facing the dual pressures of rising demand and aging infrastructure. Indeed, we’re reaching a tipping point where automatic validation and integration of new data is becoming the norm, so organizations can focus on using their data asset rather than worrying how to ingest and maintain it.

Automating Data Quality and Compliance with 1Integrate

To achieve this level of data accuracy and timeliness, 1Spatial offers 1Integrate, a no-code rules engine that automatically checks, cleans, and transforms geospatial data. 1Integrate allows utilities to encode their business rules, data standards, and even regulatory requirements into automated validations. Every time data is ingested or updated (whether it’s a new circuit design from engineering or a field-corrected GIS edit), 1Integrate can run a suite of rules to ensure the data is complete, consistent, and compliant.

For example, a rule might enforce that every new transformer asset has a valid GPS location within the utility’s service territory and is connected to a feeder circuit in the model.

Another rule might check that all customer meter points are associated with a service transformer, flagging any orphaned points for investigation. By using powerful rules-based validation on both newly captured and legacy data, 1Integrate maintains data to the standards you need, so you can be confident that the network model reflects reality.

Crucially, 1Integrate is built for scale. It’s a server-based engine that can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises, integrated via web services into existing systems. You can run multiple rule engines in parallel to handle enterprise workloads. In other words, as your data volume or complexity grows (which it certainly will in the era of AI), 1Integrate scales “out” to keep up. Automation means your data quality processes won’t become a bottleneck as the utility adopts more advanced technologies.

By embedding 1Integrate into their GIS and asset management workflows, utilities establish robust data governance practices. Every change to the data is vetted against the rules. Over time this leads to continuously improving data quality and a trustworthy data framework for the organization. Utility executives gain confidence that decisions (like where to invest in grid upgrades) are based on solid information, and regulatory filings or compliance reports (which depend on asset data accuracy) are automatically validated for consistency.

In essence, better data enables better decisions. As the grid undergoes a complex transformation (with electrification of transport and industry, renewables, battery storage, and now surging data center loads), planning and operating it has become a high-wire act.

Data-Driven Utilities Stay Afloat

Meeting the astronomical pace of rising grid stress isn’t easy, but it is achievable for utilities that invest in their data foundations. The data center boom and broader electrification trends will continue to pressure electric networks for years to come. Meeting this challenge involves not just pouring concrete and steel, but also cultivating an agile, data-driven grid.

By adopting 1Spatial’s solutions like 1Integrate, utility executives can ensure that their organizations have a single source of truth for the network, kept continuously accurate through automation. This creates a virtuous cycle: high-quality data enables precise planning, which guides effective investments and operational tweaks, which in turn are validated and fed back into the data ecosystem.

With geospatial data management and AI-driven automation, 1Spatial is helping utilities turn their deluge of data into a lifesaver – enabling them to rise above the challenges of the electricity crunch, rather than be submerged by them. 

But don’t just take our word for it – give 1Integrate a trial spin. So when the next wave of demand hits – be it a cluster of new AI data centers or a sudden EV adoption spike – your utility will be ready.