Data centers may feel like a big-city phenomenon, but more of them are showing up in rural communities like ours — and there is good reason for that. Rural areas offer what data centers need most: affordable land, room to grow, and access to transmission lines that can move large amounts of power. As many of you know, several new high-voltage transmission lines have been built in our service territory over the past few years which may attract data centers to eastern Colorado.
What makes data centers different from other large businesses is their appetite for electricity. These facilities run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Servers must stay online constantly, which means power has to be reliable every minute of every day.
For electric cooperatives like K.C. Electric Association, powering data centers creates both opportunities and challenges.
On the plus side, data centers have the potential to bring steady, long-term load growth that helps support investments to the local grid. With proper planning and policy support, those upgrades — including new substations, higher capacity power lines, and smarter technology — could benefit all K.C. members and help keep electricity rates steady.
But providing power to data centers presents challenges, too. These large facilities can be constructed and become operational in as little as one year, but ensuring the necessary infrastructure, equipment, and electricity requires longer lead times and is a significant financial investment. Strategic planning and partnerships, as well as long-term power supply strategies are essential to the process.
While K.C. does not currently serve any data centers, electric co-ops nationwide are fielding requests and inquiries from developers and technology companies, and we anticipate similar requests in the not too distant future.
As a member-owned cooperative, our responsibility is twofold: to listen to the communities we serve and to provide reliable, affordable electric service to all K.C. members. Balancing those responsibilities is not always simple, especially as new types of large-scale energy users, like data centers, become part of the local landscape.
No matter what the future holds, our priority will be supporting growth with fairness. That means ensuring large-scale energy users pay their fair share so prices to our members do not spike. And, we want our local communities to feel invested in.
The energy landscape is changing, and with it comes both opportunities and challenges. My commitment, and the commitment of the K.C. board and employees, is to continue listening, communicating, and working with our members and community partners to ensure all decisions reflect the best interests of the people we serve.
If you have questions or concerns regarding data centers, your energy bills, or any other co-op matters, we encourage you to stay engaged and reach out. Your voice matters at K.C. Electric.
David Churchwell is the general manager of K.C. Electric Association, a rural electric distribution cooperative based in Hugo, Colorado.
