最新杏吧原创

St. Charles has shot down a developer鈥檚 plans to build a massive data center, and blocked any new proposals for the next year, but Ameren has fielded at least 37 requests for similar projects seeking to plug into the local power grid.

Ameren Missouri鈥檚 鈥渆conomic development pipeline鈥� lists contained 99 projects overall as of May, including 40 large manufacturing facilities interested in opening in the 最新杏吧原创 region.

The potential projects could dwarf the biggest power users now in the 最新杏吧原创 area 鈥� requiring many times as much electricity as Ameren鈥檚 current largest customer, based on average requests.

Now, utility executives and state officials are scrambling to put new rules and rates in place to pay for and handle such 鈥渓arge-load鈥� project proposals 鈥� those requesting more than 100 megawatts. That鈥檚 equal to the electricity needs of about 18,000 homes.

最新杏吧原创-based Ameren and Kansas City鈥檚 Evergy are worried that if they don鈥檛 lock in long-term guarantees from data center developers, they and their customers could be on the hook for expensive electricity build-outs needed to attract and serve the massive projects.

State officials say they want to protect existing customers from unfair charges. And potential data center users, like Google, are trying to shape the requirements that companies like them would be held to, while touting benefits they say such large projects can offer.

Officials are facing a 鈥渂alancing act鈥� as they aim to attract new business from data centers, while ensuring that big users are paying their fair share over the long haul, says Steve Wills, Ameren Missouri鈥檚 director of regulatory affairs.

It鈥檚 not certain how many of the 99 projects will ultimately be built. But Ameren said that 鈥渢raditionally, the state wins 10-15% of new business attraction opportunities,鈥� in written testimony.

Whatever happens, officials want to be ready. Both Ameren and Evergy have submitted proposals for how to handle such 鈥渓arge-load鈥� projects to state regulators.

Remember the internet

But some warn there鈥檚 a potential cost of being, in essence, too ready.

A primary risk that accompanies any boom in large, energy-intensive projects is that of a costly 鈥渙verbuild,鈥� in which utility customers could pay for significant upgrades to the electric grid 鈥� or new power generation 鈥� for future users that don鈥檛 materialize, go out of business or become outdated, said Geoff Marke, the chief economist for the Office of Public Counsel, in written testimony. The OPC advocates for monopoly utility customers in matters before state regulators.

Marke draws a comparison to the proliferation of the internet, around 2000, and points to similar concerns from the time about a corresponding boom of new energy demand. But those worries ultimately proved to be unfounded, thanks to leaps in technology.

鈥淭he industry got a lot more efficient and the electric grid and accompanying investments reverted back to a largely flat growth line,鈥� said Marke, in written testimony.

鈥淢uch of the same rhetoric heard during the early stages of the internet are now being repeated with the discussion regarding AI. And like the early aughts, efficiency gains are being found,鈥� he said, noting the implications from the recent emergence of DeepSeek, the Chinese AI platform that has shown 鈥渟taggering鈥� energy efficiency and dramatically lower costs than competitors.

But risks can be minimized, Marke said, in comments about Evergy鈥檚 case. Rebuttals to Ameren鈥檚 proposal have not yet been submitted.

For example, the OPC wants to ensure that prospective large-load customers pay Evergy鈥檚 proposed deposit of $200,000 to cover study costs related to power grid interconnection.

Evergy鈥檚 proposal, however, says that those costs can be waived if a project meets certain criteria, including if the utility is competing against others or if the project will create 250 permanent, full-time jobs, said Marke, in testimony.

鈥淏ecause of the volume and speculative nature of (large-load) applicants, I think it is more than appropriate for customers to have 鈥榮kin in the game鈥� to indicate their seriousness,鈥� he said.

Ameren鈥檚 proposed plan for the new class of large-load customers would include requirements that they 鈥渃ontractually commit to a term of service of at least 15 years,鈥� and provide two years of notice to terminate service, which would trigger 鈥渟ubstantial termination payments.鈥�

Marke also wants to have the facilities subjected to required pre- and post-construction studies that track their energy and water usage and efficiency.

鈥淚 am not recommending that we bury our heads in the sand and ignore progress,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it could be tragically na茂ve to believe there is no risk here.鈥�

Tech giants weigh in

Some prominent companies behind large data centers, such as Google and Amazon, have gotten involved in the ongoing regulatory debates, including the one about Ameren鈥檚 proposed plan for big power customers.

Neither Google nor Amazon responded to requests for comment. But Google has publicly advocated for conditions and positions in the Evergy case, so far, through a consultant working on the company鈥檚 behalf.

For example, Google wants a shortened contract period for the facilities, dropped to eight to 10 years, instead of 15, based on written testimony from Carolyn Berry, a partner with Bates White Economic Consulting.

The company is also pushing to reduce or eliminate certain charges proposed by Evergy, and wants large-load customers to be 鈥渁llowed to reduce capacity by up to 20% without a penalty,鈥� Berry wrote.

Google is pushing for a higher limit on the number of projects that can be considered together in a single advanced study about connecting to the grid, to potentially allow for 鈥済reater efficiency and project flow.鈥�

Berry said that large power users offer 鈥渙perational and economic advantages鈥� to the electric grid, while their consistent energy usage 鈥渉elps to distribute fixed costs,鈥� contributing to lower electricity costs for all customers.

The tide of big projects has recently caused ripples across the state.

Although last week featured the collapse of the vision for the St. Charles data center, it also saw Meta 鈥� which is the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp 鈥� open its own data center in Kansas City.

Meta said it plans to publish information about the facility鈥檚 energy and water usage in upcoming company reports.