The US data center complex is building against speed-to-power mandates that require developers to get projects online as quickly as possible. Delays plugging into grid-connected power are forcing projects to invest in behind-the-meter (BTM) gas generation assets as they seek access to electricity.<br>S&amp;P Global Energy expert Ben Levitt joins hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the rise of behind-the-meter power projects connected to data centers and how these projects are reshaping investments in US electricity generation.<br>Learn more about S&amp;P Global Energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en

Necessity breeds invention: US data center developers embrace behind-the-meter power (Ep. 451)

EnergyCents

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** EnergyCents

## Participants

- **Hill Vaden** (S&P Global Commodity Insights)
- **Sam Humphreys** (WWLS-FM)
- **Ben Levitt** (None)

## Transcript

All right, welcome back to EnergyCents, an S&P Global Energy podcast covering all topics on the intersection of energy and finance. This is your host, Hill Vaden, here with your other host, Sam Humphreys. Sam, you're dealing with some heat today. How are you doing? Sam Humphreys All right. So we are in the middle of the second heat wave of the year in the UK. And for anyone listening outside of the UK, we cannot cope. I can't drink my cups of tea, everything's melted, and everyone is just a little bit hot.

Sam Humphreys But I'm all right. How are you? Sam Humphreys I am all right. And I sympathize with your heat struggles, as one who spends a lot of time in Texas in the summer. We get used to it, but we also have air conditioning, so sorry. The British are famous for talking about the weather, so it does give you all something to talk about. Sam Humphreys I mean, if you look to our news this week, there are bigger things that have happened. We're recording this on the 24th of June. A lot of big things have happened this week. But the headlines are all the weather. Sam Humphreys Is it all the weather? Sam Humphreys That sums us up to a T.

Sam Humphreys All right. Well, so we've got a real interesting conversation today with Ben Levitt, who's done a lot of work on the behind-the-meter or BTM kind of play in kind of the U.S. power grid or U.S. power system, as data centers start to really invest heavily in a speed-to-power mandate, right? Sam Humphreys Trying to get their data centers online more quickly than connecting to the grid will allow.

Sam Humphreys And so Ben does a good job kind of framing it and giving us some things to watch. Can you flag some things for people to listen for? Sam Humphreys Yeah, absolutely. So I think one of the interesting things is understanding the scale and the pace at which this is shifting. So this technology, this system has been around for a considerable amount of time. But with the rise of these data centers in particular, the scale of some of these projects is really ramping up.

Sam Humphreys And then the breadth of technology people are using has also shifted a little bit. So just got more options, basically, kind of going forward into what technology you can employ to kind of get these projects over that permitting line. Sam Humphreys So it's incredibly interesting. There are a few acronyms to listen out for everyone. So just bear that in mind. We do explain most of them. But yeah, what about you? What did you think?

Sam Humphreys I just think this is just one of the more interesting plays in energy right now and the whole idea that necessity breeds invention. You've got a lot of very creative people and creative companies working around supply constraints. And it's kind of birthed a whole new kind of sub industry and it's led...

Necessity breeds invention: US data center developers embrace behind-the-meter power (Ep. 451)

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Necessity breeds invention: US data center developers embrace behind-the-meter power (Ep. 451)

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.