Power & SitesUnited States

Secure access across global data centers

Credited to Data Center Dynamics · datacenterdynamics.com2h ago

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From fragmented access to centralized control across 100+ sites

Rapidly scaling across 100+ data centers and 30,000+ identities using manual spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and email approvals creates severe operational bottlenecks, leaving sensitive facilities exposed to unrevoked credentials and turning regulatory audits into complex, time-consuming hurdles.

This whitepaper outlines the implementation of RightCrowd SmartAccess, a cloud-native Physical Identity and Access Management (PIAM) foundation that centralizes provisioning, connects HR and security platforms via APIs, and enforces real-time policy control.

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Power & Sites · United States

Google Secures More Than 6 GW in Power Deals for AI Data Centers

Credited to TheElec · thelec.net · 2h ago

Google announced a series of power agreements totaling more than 6 gigawatts (GW) as it moves to secure electricity for its artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

Google signed a long-term power agreement totaling 3,590 megawatts (MW) with Constellation Energy. It also reached an agreement with Black Hills to secure 2.7 GW of power resources, including reserves, to supply a data center in Wyoming. About a quarter of the capacity covered by the Constellation agreement, or 890 MW, will be newly added through uprates at existing nuclear plants.

According to Constellation Energy and Black Hills, Google signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation to secure 890 MW of new carbon-free generation capacity by increasing the output of 11 existing nuclear units. The first uprate is scheduled for 2028, and Constellation will invest heavily to support the project.

Separately, Google and Constellation signed a 15-year energy supply agreement covering 2.7 GW of existing generation assets within the PJM Interconnection, the U.S. East Coast power-grid operator. By committing to purchase power and generation capacity over the long term, the agreement provides Constellation with a stable revenue base to keep its existing generation assets supplying the PJM power market.

Along with securing power, the two companies will apply AI directly to power-plant and grid operations. Constellation plans to use Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise to automate power-generation equipment monitoring, maintenance, dispatch optimization, site selection, power-flow analysis, permitting, and interconnection planning. Google Cloud will also be used to strengthen security for operational technology (OT) networks at nuclear plants that are separated from external networks. The strategy expands AI beyond a technology that increases data-center power consumption into "AI for energy" aimed at improving power generation and operating efficiency.

Black Hills signed an agreement to supply power to a data center that Google plans to build in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The agreement runs through 2048, with total power resources for the data center reaching 2.7 GW including reserves. Power service is scheduled to begin in late 2027, with the project expected to reach peak load in 2030.

Black Hills will provide up to 590 MW of the total power resources through its own generation facilities and purchases from the power market. To do so, the company plans to build 564 MW of new natural-gas generation at its existing Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station. The remaining 26 MW will be supplied through power-market purchases and retail electric service.

The remaining roughly 2.1 GW will consist of generation resources contracted from third parties in Wyoming. Black Hills will integrate and manage the output of those resources through a private microgrid, coordinating grid operations, reliability, and power dispatch. The agreement was structured so that costs associated with serving the Google data center are not shifted to existing retail customers. Google will bear the costs associated with supplying the data center, while Black Hills will earn returns on its generation investment and fees for managing the microgrid.

The agreements show that Google’s strategy for securing power for AI data centers is shifting toward long-term acquisition and structuring of generation infrastructure itself. The company is combining multiple approaches, including investment in nuclear uprates, maintaining existing generation assets, new natural-gas generation, and third-party resource management, effectively linking nuclear power, gas generation, power markets, and microgrids into a single supply chain to meet the massive electricity demand of AI data centers.