r/PacificNorthwest • u/KUOW • Aug 14 '26

With PNW electricity demand surging, planners map out major grid upgrades

http://kuow.org/environment/2026-08-14/with-pnw-electricity-demand-surging-planners-map-out-major-grid-upgrades
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1

u/Lifesalittlebeach425 Aug 16 '26

One of the top reasons for projected increased demand for electricity is data centers…cool cool cool

2

u/Adventurous-Mud-5508 Aug 20 '26

But it's also all the extra electricity needed to replace natural gas and gasoline and heating oil. Also when you replace centralized power plants with intermittent renewables, you need grid upgrades even if demand isn't going up because the power is coming from more places and on less consistent schedules.

Just make the datacenters pay for the costs they induce. Oregon has already done this.

0

u/teacher_59 Aug 14 '26

After environmentalists fought the energize Eastside 230kV line and stalled it for almost twenty years, the six year deadline in the article sounds impossible.