The current state of utility transmission infrastructure is impeding U.S. data centers’ transition to renewable energy, according to a recent report from CBRE.
In order for the data center sector to achieve its sustainability targets, it will need to overcome a slew of obstacles, such as outdated power lines, delays in planning and permitting for new transmission and distribution projects, and supply-chain bottlenecks. Some of the problems lie with the time-consuming regulatory hurdles associated with upgrading existing transmission lines, which can take as long as three years, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This also can incur multimillion-dollar costs.
Several regional data center markets across the United States are working to solve these transmission and distribution issues — notably Northern Virginia, the nation’s largest data center market; Dallas–Fort Worth, a top location for data center development; Silicon Valley, the nationâ€