Talen asks US regulators to reject challenge to Amazon data center deal
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) -Talen Energy TLNE.PK has asked U.S. regulators to reject a challenge to its recent Amazon AMZN.O data center deal, which is being opposed by a group of electric utilities that say the agreement could raise power bills for the general public, according to a filing on Friday.
Talen said the challenge, brought by utilities including American Electric Power AEP.O and Exelon EXC.O, was inaccurate and that its interconnection agreement for the Amazon data center site would not cause grid reliability problems or spiking power costs for the utility customers.
"It is an unlawful attempt to hijack this limited interconnection service agreement amendment proceeding that they have no stake in and turn it into an ad hoc national referendum on the future of data center load," Talen said in its filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Technology companies are in a race to access massive amounts of electricity supplies to power and cool the data centers, or giant computer warehouses, needed to roll out technologies like generative AI. Nuclear energy, which is virtually carbon free and provides around-the-clock power, has become a top pick for the data center industry.
Talen announced in March that it had entered into an agreement to sell electricity and a data center campus located at its Pennsylvania nuclear power plant to Amazon Web Services. The deal would provide Amazon's computer warehouses with an electric capacity of up to 960 megawatts, or enough to power about a million homes.
A handful of electric utilities, including American Electric Power and Exelon, last month asked FERC to hold a hearing to more deeply scrutinize Talen's interconnection agreement with Amazon or deny it outright. The group said the interconnection agreement for the data center could result in a $140 million per year cost shift to everyday ratepayers.
Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Josie Kao
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
