California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced on 31 July that it is proactively working to serve the 10 GW of new electricity demand expected to arise from data centre projects over the next ten years.
The 10 GW in PG&E’s data centre project pipeline reflects a significant increase from the 8.7 GW of data centre demand PG&E reported as recently as May, and the 5.5 GW increase reported in February. This milestone includes the results of the company’s April 2025 study of data centre applications from across its 70 000 square mile service area.
“Data centres are powering more than just the digital world – they’re helping power California’s future” said Mike Medeiros, VP, South Bay Delivery, PG&E. “This growth can help lower costs for all electric customers while creating tens of thousands of jobs and billions in local revenue.”
PG&E estimates the anticipated data centre load growth could lead to lower customer electric bills by 10% or more by spreading fixed costs, and the creation of 50 000 construction jobs with 115 000 associated support jobs.
Of the 10 GW, 17 data centre projects totaling approximately 1.5 GW are in the final engineering phase and projected to begin operations between 2026 and 2030. Most of these are in San Jose, Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco Bay Area, with some in the Central Valley and Sacramento.
New energy demand from data centres allows PG&E to utilise more of its existing power infrastructure. Today, PG&E’s grid is 45% utilised on average. By spreading the fixed costs of operating the grid over more units of energy, PG&E believes it can increase the average grid utilisation rate and thereby reduce customer costs.
• In addition to data centres, PG&E is receiving more applications to power large, new loads from warehouses, electric vehicle fleets and manufacturing growth. To support this surge in large-load interconnection requests the California Public Utilities Commission has approved PG&E’s proposal for interim implementation of Electric Rule 30. Rule 30 is intended to provide a streamlined, transparent, and equitable pathway for transmission-level retail electric service. Under the interim rule, applicants who agree to fund necessary transmission infrastructure upfront can benefit from accelerated grid connections.
