Ohio Rules That Data Centers Pay for Minimum Energy Needs
An electricity substation next to a data center in Johnstown, Ohio, in 2024.
Photographer: Brian Kaiser/BloombergRegulators in Ohio, a key data center market, ruled that data centers will have to pay for some of their energy requests regardless of whether the electricity ends up being needed.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Wednesday voted through a settlement proposed by American Electric Power Co., with some modifications. Under the AEP proposal, facilities would need to pay for at least 85% of the energy they say they need each month even if they use less, helping to fund grid upgrades.