Harrisburg, Jun 9 (AP) Amazon said Monday that it will spend USD 20 billion on two data centre complexes in Pennsylvania, including one it is building alongside a nuclear power plant that has drawn federal scrutiny over an arrangement to essentially plug right into the power plant.
Kevin Miller, vice president of global data centres at Amazon's cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, told The Associated Press that the company will build another data centre complex just north of Philadelphia.
The announcements add to the billions of dollars in Big Tech's data centre cash already flowing into the state.
Since 2024 started, Amazon has committed to about USD 10 billion apiece to data centre projects in Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina as it ramps up its investment in infrastructure to compete with other tech giants to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence products.
The rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has fuelled demand for data centres that need power to run servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems.
The majority owner of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, Talen Energy, announced last year that it had sold its data centre to Amazon for USD 650 million in a deal to eventually provide 960 megawatts. That's 40 per cent of the output of one of the nation's largest nuclear power plants, or enough to power more than a half-million homes.
However, the arrangement between Talen and Amazon — called a “behind the meter” connection — has been held up by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the first such case to come before the agency.
It has raised questions over whether diverting power to higher-paying customers will leave enough for others and whether it's fair to excuse big power users from paying for the grid. (AP)
GRS
GRS