"The first power projects in PG&E's pipeline to serve data centers could appear on the grid as soon as next year, despite some hints of softening demand, as the utility titan races to meet the tech industry's hunger for the data hubs. PG&E is in the final engineering stages for electricity projects that would produce a combined 1.6 gigawatts of energy to serve data centers in the South Bay, said Mike Medeiros, PG&E vice president of strategic commercial solutions,"
"Oakland-based PG&E is scouting for opportunities to connect data centers to electricity supplies because large energy users can take on a greater share of the fixed costs of operating and maintaining the electric grid. We see these projects as a great opportunity, Medeiros said at the Nov. 18 meeting. Every gigawatt we can connect to the system has the potential to reduce costs to all customers by 1% to 2%."
PG&E is finalizing engineering for electricity projects that would deliver 1.6 gigawatts to data centers in the South Bay, with initial projects potentially reaching the grid as soon as next year. The utility views large data-center customers as able to shoulder more fixed grid costs, and estimates every connected gigawatt could reduce customer costs by 1% to 2%. Demand remains fluid: the initial application and preliminary pipeline fell from 8.45 GW in June 2025 to 7.95 GW in September 2025, a 5.9% decrease. Conversely, the late-stage pipeline rose from 1.5 GW to 1.6 GW, a 6.7% increase. Data centers are positioned to supply computing, storage and high-speed networks for artificial intelligence.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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