Balancing data center demand and relaibility
Data centers may feel like a big-city phenomenon, but more and 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.
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 Highline 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, stronger lines and smarter technology — could benefit all Highline 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 significant financial investment. Strategic planning and partnerships, as well as long-term power supply strategies are essential to the process.
While Highline does not currently serve any data centers, co-ops nationwide are fielding requests and inquiries from tech 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 Highline 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 to mitigate the impact on other members, which ensures our local communities are supported.
The energy landscape is changing, and with it comes both opportunities and challenges. My commitment, and the commitment of the Highline 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 Highline Electric.
Our mission is to provide our members with reliable, high-quality electricity and other needed services, which will improve their economic and social well-being and provide significant long-range benefits for our communities, our state, and our nation.
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Dennis Herman is the general manager of Highline Electric Association, a rural electric distribution cooperative based in Holyoke, Colorado, serving members across the northeastern plains.
