Trump Admin Taps Data Centers For Backup Power As Winter Storm Threatens Grid

The Department of Energy has asked the nation’s power grid operators to prepare to make backup power from facilities such as data centers, manufacturing plants and commercial sites available as a record-breaking winter storm threatens widespread outages across the United States.

The request from Energy Secretary Chris Wright comes as Winter Storm Fern — forecast to bring heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain and biting cold from the southern Rockies through the Northeast — moves across the country. Federal authorities and utilities say it could be one of the most challenging winter weather events the grid has faced in years, The Washington Times reported.

In a letter sent Thursday to reliability coordinators and balancing authorities, Wright described the situation as a “national energy emergency” and said the department is preparing to use its statutory authority under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to ensure available backup generation can be used to prevent outages.

“Across the country there are gigawatts of readily available backup generation that have remained largely untapped until now,” Wright wrote, adding that tapping that generation could save American lives and avoid billions of dollars in economic costs. He attributed grid vulnerability to what he called “energy subtraction policies of the previous administration.”

The department estimates more than 35 gigawatts of unused backup power capacity exists nationwide — enough to power tens of millions of homes — and could help mitigate blackouts and reduce energy costs if demand spikes during the storm. One gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the output of a large nuclear power unit.

DOE officials told grid operators that if electricity demand nears levels that risk blackouts, they should be ready to direct backup generators at facilities such as data centers to run as a last resort before a grid emergency alert — known as an Energy Emergency Alert Level 3 — is declared.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the storm will impact hundreds of millions of Americans and could produce some of the most severe winter weather seen this season, with a dangerous combination of cold temperatures and ice across large swaths of the country.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the industry’s reliability coordinator, issued statements ahead of the storm warning that conditions could create “significant challenges” for power systems through Monday. Utilities in multiple states have activated emergency preparedness plans and encouraged customers to be ready for potential outages.

DOE’s plan notably involves facilities that typically do not feed power to the grid, including data centers, retail businesses and industrial sites that rely on their own generators for backup. Under normal conditions these installations are not integrated with grid operations, making the move unusual in the energy sector.

Supporters of the plan, including some data center operators, applauded the decision, saying it could help preserve grid stability during extreme conditions. For example, Compass Datacenters said allowing its facilities to “island” from the grid and run backup generation could help preserve limited grid capacity for homes and essential services.

Critics, however, have raised concerns about relying on diesel generators for extended grid support, noting that many backup generators are not synchronized with grid systems and can produce significant emissions if run for prolonged periods. Public interest advocates called for more coordinated grid planning and emphasized the health and environmental implications of long-duration diesel generator use.

The directive to prepare backup generation also comes amid a broader energy supply strain fueled by falling crude oil and natural gas production due to the extreme cold, which has already reduced output in major producing regions such as the Permian Basin and Appalachia. Spot electricity prices in parts of the country have surged as grid congestion increases ahead of the storm.

Officials stressed that the emergency use of backup generation is meant to augment existing supply options and is not a substitute for grid maintenance or protections against weather-related infrastructure damage such as downed lines.