--- title: One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center... description: A downed power line near Washington, DC triggered a cascade where over 3 gigawatts of Northern Virginia data centers simultaneously switched to backup power,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/one-fallen-power-line-exposed-a-growing-ai-data-center-problem-here-s-how-to-fix-it--f8fvg87zu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it. | daily.dev og:description: A downed power line near Washington, DC triggered a cascade where over 3 gigawatts of Northern Virginia data centers simultaneously switched to backup power,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/one-fallen-power-line-exposed-a-growing-ai-data-center-problem-here-s-how-to-fix-it--f8fvg87zu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/f8FVg87Zu.png og:image:alt: One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it. og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it. **[TechCrunch](https://daily.dev/sources/tc)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary A downed power line near Washington, DC triggered a cascade where over 3 gigawatts of Northern Virginia data centers simultaneously switched to backup power, causing voltage spikes across the PJM grid from Virginia to Chicago. The event — twice the scale of a similar 2024 incident — highlights a growing risk as data centers now represent 6% of PJM load and are projected to reach 24% by 2040. Experts say the core problem is that data centers all disconnect nearly simultaneously when they sense grid fluctuations, amplifying instability rather than absorbing it. Solutions include sequential disconnection protocols and campus-scale battery buffer systems like those being deployed by ON.Energy, which hide data center load variability from the grid and allow ride-through of disruptions within milliseconds. ERCOT is already moving to mandate ride-through capability for large loads. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why did data centers disconnecting from the power grid cause voltage to spike across the PJM grid? A fallen power line near Washington, DC triggered roughly 3.1 gigawatts of Northern Virginia data centers to switch to backup power and drop off the grid within about 30 seconds. Because supply and demand must stay tightly balanced, this sudden drop in demand caused voltage to surge across PJM's territory from Northern Virginia to Chicago, and it took over 10 minutes to stabilize. _daily.dev surfaces reporting like this for engineers tracking how AI data center growth strains grid reliability._ ### How does ON.Energy's uninterruptible power system prevent data centers from disconnecting during grid disturbances? ON.Energy builds a campus-wide uninterruptible power supply that places a bank of batteries and power conversion equipment between the grid and the entire data center, including servers and chillers. This makes the grid see one steady load instead of fluctuating demand, letting the system absorb power dips or surges within milliseconds and charge or discharge batteries instead of disconnecting. It is currently being installed across 3 gigawatts at four data center campuses. _Engineers weighing grid-resilience options for AI infrastructure can follow developments like this on daily.dev._ ### How much of the PJM grid's electricity demand do data centers account for, and how is that expected to change? Data centers made up about 6% of PJM's load in 2024 and were involved in an event where 60 facilities simultaneously disconnected, pulling 1.5 gigawatts. During a similar 2026 event, data centers represented about 3% of demand but caused a disconnection twice as large, at 3.1 gigawatts. Synapse Energy Economics projects data centers will reach 24% of PJM's load by 2040. _daily.dev helps infrastructure teams keep pace with data center growth projections shaping grid planning._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@trevorsuna** · 0 upvotes > Having gigawatts of load drop at once turns each data center’s safety move into a grid problem. Battery ride-through and staggered disconnects sound much better than treating backup power as an isolated site decision. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Powering AI is an architecture problem](https://daily.dev/posts/powering-ai-is-an-architecture-problem-9spk2bfce) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Data centers may face temporary power cuts to prevent blackouts on largest US grid](https://daily.dev/posts/data-centers-may-face-temporary-power-cuts-to-prevent-blackouts-on-largest-us-grid-m7byedust) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The biggest U.S. power grid is under strain from AI — and no one is happy](https://daily.dev/posts/the-biggest-u-s-power-grid-is-under-strain-from-ai-and-no-one-is-happy-yxgttvm5k) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-infrastructure](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-infrastructure) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/one-fallen-power-line-exposed-a-growing-ai-data-center-problem-here-s-how-to-fix-it--f8fvg87zu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. 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