Energy Department advises grid operators to use data centers as backup plan for winter storm

As many states across the nation brace for a severe winter storm this weekend, the Department of Energy is advising grid operators to use data centers as backup generation sources in case of a power outage in their area.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright made the recommendation in a Thursday letter to the nation’s electrical grid operators. The backup plan for power generation is to address what he calls a “national energy emergency” amid Winter Storm Fern.

“The Trump administration will not stand by and allow the previous administration’s reckless energy subtraction policies and bureaucratic red tape put American lives at risk,” Wright said in a statement.

“We have identified more than 35 [gigawatts] of unused backup generation that exists across the country and are taking