Amazon said Monday that it will spend $20 billion on two data center 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 centers at Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, told The Associated Press that the company will build another data center complex just north of Philadelphia.
The announcements add to the billions of dollars in Big Tech's data center cash already flowing into the state.
Since 2024 started, Amazon has committed to about $10 billion apiece to data center 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 fueled demand for data centers 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 center to Amazon for $650 million in a deal to eventually provide 960 megawatts. That's 40% 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.
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11 Comments
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GBR48
Introduce a buy-out clause. If a company takes more than 10% of the energy from a nuclear power plant, it has to buy the plant itself, and pay for its eventual decommissioning - including the curatorship of all the waste it creates, for as long as is necessary.
wallace
960 MW total—enough to power the equivalent of more than 770,000 U.S. homes.
Susquehanna Nuclear, LLC, a division of Talen Energy, operates SSES and owns 90% of the station. Allegheny Electric owns 10%. Total Generating Capacity is 2,476 Megawatts – enough to power approximately 2 million homes.
wallace
There are two nuclear reactors, and Amazon requires the power from one of them, leaving other users short.
James Dean Jr.
So Amazon’s new business model is: skip the grid, plug straight into the nuclear core, and call it cloud computing. At this rate, JB is going to need his own containment dome. AI may be the future, but someone should probably check if the lights stay on for everyone else.
HopeSpringsEternal
Great news for Amazon and the people of the great Commonwealth of PA. More MAGA in action, investment, fueling jobs, energy, wealth creation, productivity, innovation, and tax revenues!
AI can't go to Europe or Asia at scale because they don't have sufficient energy, taxes and regulations too high etc. and thus America dominance is rapidly building, making the world far more stable and secure!
HopeSpringsEternal
Now far more AI projects underway in US, like this one in PA, than rest of world combined and reasons are clear...
Nov 5th MAGA Trump election, made possible by backing received from Silcon Valley, tired of over regulation, deal killing & lack of IPOs due to Biden Admin
wallace
It's not good news for the consumers to lose 50% of the available power from the nuclear plant. Normally, supplying 2 million homes is reduced by 800,000 to 1.2 million homes. They will need other energy sources.
Apple's global facilities, including data centers, are powered by 100% renewable energy. This includes retail stores, offices, and co-located facilities across 43 countries. Apple first achieved this goal in 2018.
The China Telecom-Inner Mongolia Information Park in Hohhot, China, is widely considered the largest data center in the world. It spans over 10 million square feet and is a major hub for data storage and processing, particularly in China.
15 Largest Data Centers in the World
7 are outside of the US.
https://brightlio.com/largest-data-centers-in-the-world/
HopeSpringsEternal
Dollars spent on AI in $US far greater than anywhere and most of largest Data Centers, if not all being built outside China, using US tech. like all the new facilities soon to be built in the Gulf States of Dubia, UAE, KSA.
But many datacenters like this one in PA are not 'giant' in a relative sense. US Hyper-scalers like Amazon and MSFT, the gold standard, none European or Japanese, thus, rapidly becoming irrelevant in AI
MAGA = Energy, Tech and Economic Dominance = AI
funkymofo
Europe built the LHC, the largest machine ever created by humans. Your maga bluster is somewhat misplaced- and 'stable and secure' is about the last thing people think about the US at the moment. The US is heading for a recession- trump created problems will inevitably slow business.
HopeSpringsEternal
US economy per Atlanta FED GDP in 2Q = 4.6%
Why? Projects like PA, fueling productivity, lower inflation and spur economic growth. Europe has no catalysts, just wars and lack of energy, as capital flees to the US.
US Private CAPEX Growth +22% in Q1, the single best leading indicator of future economic growth. Europe a dumpster fire, no money, no energy and no growth
Sven Asai
I guess they don't know too what it's good for, but they invest big money because they just can. But in fact also a much bigger empty bubble is only an empty bubble.