Energy Infrastructure Consulting

Data centers are changing more than electricity demand—they are changing the grid's risk profile. This article presents a risk-informed framework for utilities to evaluate large computational loads from hazard identification through system consequence and mitigation.

A clear power utility risk register classification framework can help utilities connect enterprise risk with asset management, maintenance, inspection, and investment planning. Power utilities rarely struggle to identify risks. They struggle to organize them. A large utility may have risks associated with transmission assets, substations, distribution equipment, vegetation, wildfire, extreme weather, cybersecurity, workforce, contractors, data, compliance, major projects, sup

Power utilities rarely have the budget, labor, outage windows, or spare equipment required to address every aging asset at once. The central planning question is therefore not simply, “Which assets are old?” It is, “Which actions will reduce the most risk, at the right time, for the resources available?”