Southern Co reports 55% jump in data center power demand

US utility Southern Co reported data center power usage up 55% year-over-year, according to Data Center Dynamics. The company also cited a 6GW surge in its contracted large-load pipeline.

Why it matters: This hard utility-side data point confirms the scale of AI-driven power demand growth and adds concrete numbers to the broader story of grid strain, echoing the PJM outage review already covered and raising the stakes if natural gas prices climb as separately forecast.