Broken Power Line Reveals New Threat from AI Data Centers: They Can Destabilize the Grid in Seconds

A power line break in a Washington suburb highlighted the problem data centers pose for power grids. After the break, over 3 GW of load nearly simultaneously switched to backup mode, causing a ten-minute voltage spike in the network of PJM, the largest regional electricity operator in the United States. According to PJM data, within about 30 seconds, consumption of approximately 3.1 GW disappeared from the power system, leading to an energy surplus of up to 3.49 GW, and it took about 11 minutes for full stabilization of the grid. Experts note that such events are becoming increasingly likely due to the high concentration of data centers for training neural networks in Northern Virginia, within PJM's service area. Ricardo de Azevedo, Chief Technology Officer of ON.Energy, called the incident a warning of serious problems. Ali Zein Banatwala, Senior Specialist at the Independent Electricity System Operator, believes that a safer approach would be sequential disconnection and reconnection of facilities. ON.Energy offers an uninterruptible power supply system for entire data center campuses to smooth out load changes; the company is installing such complexes with a total capacity of 3 GW at four sites. Operator ERCOT plans to require large consumers, including AI clusters, to remain connected during short-term disturbances. According to estimates by Synapse Energy Economics, the share of data centers in PJM's load could grow from 6% in 2024 to 24% by 2040.