Data Centers in Springfield

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Well, welcome everyone to a special episode of
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That's Shocking, a City Utilities podcast. Today
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we have a very special episode for you. We've
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got a one -on -one discussion with CU President
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and CEO Dwayne Folk. Dwayne, thank you so much
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for being here. It's your first time on the show
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and we've got a big topic for you today. So thank
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you for being here. We're talking about data
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centers. And you've been talking about data centers
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a lot lately. I have. It's funny because when
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we were preparing for this episode, I was thinking
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about how you've been in your role for about
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how long now? 20 months. 20 months. Okay. Just
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20 months ago when you were going through the
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arduous interviewing process, did anyone ask
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you, what about data centers? Actually, the data
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centers were on our minds even back then. And
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so that was one of the topics of conversation,
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but certainly not a topic of conversation out
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in the public the way it is now. We as a utility
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have been aware of data centers and planning
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for data centers and have been serving data centers
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for a lot longer than that. So you've had some
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time to kind of think about it and prepare, which
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is great because City Utilities has been preparing
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behind the scenes. Of course, now it seems like
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it's all anything anyone can talk about in the
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public. popular topic of discussion. I think
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one of the reasons it's become a popular topic
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of discussion is just the advancement of technology
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and the increasing use of artificial intelligence
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and some of the online resources that drive the
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need and the demand for data centers. And so
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because there's a need and a demand for it, that
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means there's more construction, more data center
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proposals going on, and therefore more power
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necessary for that. So it's causing some concern,
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I think, out in the public about do we have enough
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power? Do we have enough water if the data centers
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use water for cooling? for instance, and what
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effects might that have on our grid and on our
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costs associated with that. So when we talk about
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data centers, most people think about AI, artificial
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intelligence. Is that a primary reason for the
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boom? And are there data centers that don't involve
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artificial intelligence? Great question. I think
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that artificial intelligence is a primary driver.
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However, it's not the only driver. So there are
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different types of data centers. There are regular
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data centers, if you will, that have been around
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forever that house any types of data that you
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might imagine. We have one at City Utilities
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internally, hospitals, banks. There's data centers
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that serve all sorts of different businesses.
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City Utilities actually formed a data center
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in the Springfield Underground as part of its
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business several years ago and spun that off
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to a separate entity. That type of data center
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has been around forever. A more recent type of
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data center that doesn't involve AI necessarily
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is crypto mining. So there are some data centers
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that provide that type of service for their owners.
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And we have served those types of data centers
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here in Springfield previously as well. The AI
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data centers are getting the most press right
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now, probably because they're the largest and
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they use the most power. Yeah. And another term
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that we might hear a lot is hyperscaler. So those
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are the ones that utilize a lot more energy.
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and perhaps water. Sure. That's quite possible.
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Hyperscalers really just refer to a type of data
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center that houses more than one or a group of
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tenants that provide data center services. So
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it's just the size that makes it a hyperscale
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or the fact that there's more than one tenant,
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more than one company inside the building. So
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City Utilities, as we mentioned, has been preparing
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because data centers already have been calling.
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They're calling every community from what I understand.
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You're hearing from your colleagues as well across
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the country. That's correct. It's a nationwide
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move. Data center companies, data center developers,
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I believe, are looking for any available power
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right now. Previously, they were looking for
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cheap available power. Now they're just looking
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for power. So where can they site? Where can
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they plug into the grid? Where can they get generation
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provided to them or transmission for the power
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that they need and use? So it's a nationwide
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issue, a nationwide conversation, and it's come
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to the Midwest. So what is City Utilities doing
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to prepare? So we've done the same things we've
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always done. We really focus on three main topics,
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thoughtful preparation and then clear communication
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out to the public, but really, first and foremost,
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protecting our customers and our community. So
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our latest effort in doing that is standing up
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what we call a large load task force and application
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process where any data center or other large
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electric load that would apply to be served by
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city utilities has to provide certain information,
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deposits to cover their expenses, and agree to
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certain things like providing all the costs for
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the things that they would use or the upgrades
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we would need to provide on our system. So basically,
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if any data center, hyperscale, or whatever it
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may be, wants to come to Springfield, the idea
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is that they would pay for whatever upgrades
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or infrastructure is necessary to house them
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here. That's correct. And not just the infrastructure
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upgrades, certainly that's the case, but we're
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also developing a large... load power rate where
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they would pay for all the power that they use
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as well. Their power usage profile could be different
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than other customers, and we base our customer
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rates on the customer's profile. So it's a new
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profile that we're creating just for that type
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of load. So the idea being that our existing
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customers won't have to shoulder the burden of
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these data centers. That's correct. That's our
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goal, and we're dedicated to doing that. We have
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the benefit of being in various organizations
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where we can learn best practices, what other
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utilities' experiences have been. And so we're
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learning from them and then developing our process
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with the best of those. So why not just say no?
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Why not just say thanks, no thanks? Sure. So
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as a municipal utility, as a utility with a service
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territory, we have an obligation to serve a data
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center if it receives all the approvals that
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it requires from the state and federal regulatory
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agencies, from the local permitting authorities,
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and then for our own service rules and regulations
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as well. So if a data center checks all those
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boxes, we have an obligation to serve it. So,
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you know, we talk about in Springfield how we
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currently generate, what, 600 -something megawatts
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-ish per day. Is that correct? That's our load,
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typically, is around 500 to 600 megawatts, yes.
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And we've heard some of these hyperscalers may
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also need 500 megawatts or more. So there's a
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potential there you're talking about doubling
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the load on Springfield. Do we currently have
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the generation to support that type of load?
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If not, is that then a reason for us to say?
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we're sorry, we perhaps aren't the best option
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for you. Yes, so that's correct. If we don't
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have available power, that's one of the reasons
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that we would be able to say or that we would
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have to say to a potential data center that we
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can't serve it. It would have the opportunity
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to bring its own power potentially, but we would
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have to understand how that works not only in
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connection with our customers and our power generation
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here in Springfield, but the grid itself. And
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so they would have to apply to the Southwest
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Power Pool, which is the regional transmission
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organization in our area. and they would have
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to get approval from the Southwest Power Pool
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to bring that additional generation. All data
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centers aren't the same. So some data centers
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are as little as 10 megawatts, for instance,
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that's been proposed to us. Some have been multiples
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of the 500 that you mentioned. It depends on
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whether we can provide the generation, the power
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that they need within our current generation
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portfolio, or if we have to develop or they have
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to develop additional. If there's additional,
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certainly they would have to pay for all the
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cost of it. But what's interesting is you can't
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build generation overnight, right? Correct. And
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so how do we sort of balance the need for or
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the demand for these data centers to start to
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come in immediately with our need to slowly build
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up generation? Sure. The short answer to that,
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I think, is it's not our obligation to balance
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that for the data centers. It's our obligation
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to balance that for our customers. And so we
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are currently building additional power generation
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to satisfy some of the Southwest Power Pool's
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planning reserve margin requirements. That margin,
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if you will, has already been committed to ourselves,
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our other customers, and then additional economic
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development projects. So we're fortunate. perhaps,
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to not have 500 extra megawatts of generation
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capability. And so that conversation becomes
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very easy in terms of saying, you're going to
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have to provide your own solution or go somewhere
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else. So, Duane, this may be oversimplifying
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it, but I'm really thinking of this as twofold.
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One is the data center needs to be able to generate
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the power, but also we need to be able to transmit.
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Through transmission lines, the power. And so
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is that a part of the study looking at both of
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those things? Because I'm sure they're both equally
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important. That is correct. And it depends on
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whether the data center developer wants to bring
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their own power or import their own power. So
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they can import their own power through transmission
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lines. That's another part of the study, as you
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mentioned. That would be also with Southwest
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Power Pool's approval. But building transmission
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lines is... just as challenging as building generation
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right now. There's a lot of competition for labor
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and materials and resources to do that, the process
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to get approval and to... Issue notices to construct
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and to have the construction documentation and
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people in place is a multi -year process. And
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as you mentioned, data center developers would
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like to have their power now. So typically they
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would move on to another area as opposed to wait
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for that with us. Many data centers I have heard
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are looking to batteries as the option for generation
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at least. Is that still something that's being
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discussed heavily in the industry? And what risks
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and perhaps benefits does that option bring?
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An option that everyone is looking at currently,
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not just data center developers, but also utilities,
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in fact, city utilities, is developing two battery
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projects, one on the east side of Springfield
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next to our... Blackman Water Treatment Plant
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and one in the southeast side of Springfield
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next to our former James River Power Station.
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Those are zinc -based batteries, and so they
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are domestically sourced, non -flammable, and
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are fully recyclable. Not all batteries are the
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same. So some technologies might not be zinc.
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They might be lithium -ion or some other type
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of technologies currently being developed. So
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as data center developers and others are looking
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at those, then citing those battery projects
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has become a concern with the public. and with
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the licensing bodies about whether they're safe,
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whether they're going to continue to be maintained
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in the future. We at City Utilities are dedicated
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to maintaining the batteries that we control,
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but we don't have control over batteries that
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aren't located on our site. And the only other
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option then for generation, if the data center
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doesn't bring, for example, batteries, would
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be something like natural gas or, of course,
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if we were able to generate some through our
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coal -fired power plants. However, let's talk
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about natural gas for a second because we're
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also a little bit limited on our capacity from
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that perspective here in city utilities. We are.
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In fact, at city utilities, I'd say that we are
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fuel -constrained and we're also power -constrained
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when it comes to transmission. a single gas pipeline
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that comes into Springfield and we currently
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have committed all of the capacity we have on
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that pipeline to ourselves and our customers
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to the utilities. So we have obtained approval
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and they are currently constructing an upgrade
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to provide additional capacity but again that
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additional capacity is already committed. So
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a data center developer coming into Springfield
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that would like to develop gas generating power
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capacity would have to bring in an additional
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pipeline. But I like what you said that that's
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not necessarily our problem to solve. Correct.
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That's the data center's problem to solve. We
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just need to make sure that we're doing what's
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necessary to prepare and protect our customers.
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That's exactly right. So bottom line, do you,
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if you have your future scene glasses on, do
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you see a world in which Springfield has a hyperscale
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data center at some point? I believe that over
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time, those will become fairly normal around
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the country. And it may not be a hyperscale data
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center. It may be smaller data centers sited
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in areas where there's underserved or underutilized
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infrastructure like substations. But data centers
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will be. become a normal thing. It's just because
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of the demand and because of the ubiquity of
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the need that that's going to happen. So as they
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become more normal and more regulated, I believe
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people will become more comfortable with that
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because the utility companies and the local regulatory
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agencies are going to be taking care of the community.
00:12:38.649 --> 00:12:40.429
And you mentioned as we were preparing for this
00:12:40.429 --> 00:12:43.169
that there are both risks and opportunities to
00:12:43.169 --> 00:12:45.169
that. Can you talk about that a little bit? Sure.
00:12:45.830 --> 00:12:49.379
Certainly risks, as we know, involve potential
00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:52.600
cost increases for our customers, water usage,
00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:56.039
potentially heat and other environmental aspects
00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:59.059
of data centers. I believe there's a national
00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:01.820
security concern, though, with not having a data
00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:04.000
center here locally or at least within the United
00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.779
States because there are foreign countries that
00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:08.639
would rather have data centers there, and I believe
00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.960
that local businesses, for instance, should have
00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.340
an interest in making sure to have control over
00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:16.909
the security of their data. If a data center
00:13:16.909 --> 00:13:19.210
locates somewhere else besides Springfield, there
00:13:19.210 --> 00:13:22.029
could still be adverse effects on us as far as
00:13:22.029 --> 00:13:25.730
availability and cost of labor, materials, power,
00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:27.850
infrastructure, all the sorts of things that
00:13:27.850 --> 00:13:29.990
we use without some of the offsetting benefits
00:13:29.990 --> 00:13:33.549
of having the data center located here, like
00:13:33.549 --> 00:13:35.549
offsetting some of those costs and providing
00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:37.490
benefits to the community. Now, I want to go
00:13:37.490 --> 00:13:39.070
back to something you said at the very beginning
00:13:39.070 --> 00:13:40.809
of that. You said one of the risks is increased
00:13:40.809 --> 00:13:44.049
costs for our customers. However, we also have
00:13:44.049 --> 00:13:46.690
this team that's working to try to prevent that.
00:13:46.789 --> 00:13:50.090
So is it not as simple as saying the data center
00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:51.509
is going to pay for everything and our customers
00:13:51.509 --> 00:13:53.549
will not shoulder any of the burden at all? Is
00:13:53.549 --> 00:13:55.269
it that black and white or is it more complicated
00:13:55.269 --> 00:13:57.509
than that? It's that simple for a data center
00:13:57.509 --> 00:13:59.789
located within our service territory. But outside
00:13:59.789 --> 00:14:02.289
of our service territory, we don't have the opportunity
00:14:02.289 --> 00:14:04.480
to have that control and we also don't. get to
00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.799
receive the benefits and so a data center outside
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.019
our service territory might be able to plug into
00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:11.139
the grid either through another utility or directly
00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:13.899
and then we could have some offsetting then we
00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:16.340
could have some adverse effects of that because
00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:20.590
of cost congestion on our power lines, or potentially
00:14:20.590 --> 00:14:23.470
competition for resources like labor and materials
00:14:23.470 --> 00:14:26.110
and power and infrastructure. So let's dig into
00:14:26.110 --> 00:14:28.210
that a little bit more. What you're saying is
00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:30.870
that if a data center were to open just outside
00:14:30.870 --> 00:14:34.090
of our service territory, as an example, we might
00:14:34.090 --> 00:14:36.710
still see some of the added costs because of
00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:40.730
the sort of burden on the whole grid? That's
00:14:40.730 --> 00:14:42.309
exactly right. Yes. And we call that congestion.
00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:45.889
So we have locational marginal pricing that Southwest
00:14:45.889 --> 00:14:48.850
Power Pool charges us for what it costs to send
00:14:48.850 --> 00:14:50.769
the power to Springfield. It's like an interstate
00:14:50.769 --> 00:14:52.870
highway. The more traffic on the line, the higher
00:14:52.870 --> 00:14:55.230
the cost is. So if there's traffic on the line
00:14:55.230 --> 00:14:57.629
between us and the power source, the generating
00:14:57.629 --> 00:14:59.429
source, then there could be increased costs for
00:14:59.429 --> 00:15:01.870
our customers. So in some ways, if a data center
00:15:01.870 --> 00:15:04.090
has a choice between just outside our service
00:15:04.090 --> 00:15:07.649
territory and just inside, we might prefer it
00:15:07.649 --> 00:15:10.019
be just inside because we can more control. those
00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:12.500
costs? That's correct. Not only control the costs,
00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.960
but also the community can receive some of the
00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:16.820
benefits of having the data center within our
00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:19.120
service territory, or at least within city limits
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:22.840
or within our county, such as property tax revenue
00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.500
and some of the payment in lieu of taxes that
00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:27.399
we provide because of the power. Interesting.
00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.240
Okay. Well, I think that's a great overview.
00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:33.240
And now I want to dig in a little bit on some
00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:35.659
fact versus fiction, because there, as we mentioned,
00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:37.820
whenever there's an onslaught of information
00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:40.919
out there, there's tends to be some misinformation
00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.679
as well. So I want to talk a little bit about
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.179
those items, if it's okay. The first, of course,
00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:50.519
is all data centers use a ton of energy. Is that
00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:52.320
fact? Is that fiction? Somewhere in between.
00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:55.980
So all data centers use some energy. It depends
00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:57.960
on the size of the data center, but relative
00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:00.480
to other businesses, they use a lot of energy.
00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.009
So the size of a data center... On the outside,
00:16:04.230 --> 00:16:06.450
it may be deceptive because there's a lot going
00:16:06.450 --> 00:16:09.169
on inside when it comes to computing power. So
00:16:09.169 --> 00:16:10.929
as I mentioned, some data centers that have been
00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:12.870
proposed to us are as small as 10 megawatts.
00:16:12.870 --> 00:16:15.129
That would be equal to some of our largest customers
00:16:15.129 --> 00:16:16.710
currently. Yeah, that's what I was going to say
00:16:16.710 --> 00:16:18.490
is we have some, as an example, some manufacturing
00:16:18.490 --> 00:16:20.669
facilities that might use 10 megawatts. That's
00:16:20.669 --> 00:16:22.730
exactly right. Some data centers that have been
00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:25.350
proposed to us are in the multiples of 500. And
00:16:25.350 --> 00:16:27.669
so that would be multiples of our current city
00:16:27.669 --> 00:16:31.440
usage of electricity. Any data center uses a
00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:33.340
lot of power, but they do vary amongst themselves.
00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.980
Next question, all data centers use a ton of
00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:42.019
water. Is that true? That's actually false. Data
00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:44.580
centers previously may have used a lot of water.
00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:46.340
We haven't experienced that here in Springfield.
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.460
But latest technology is what's called closed
00:16:49.460 --> 00:16:52.580
-loop cooling, and that wouldn't involve a pass
00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:54.320
-through of water. It would involve recirculating
00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.980
water. So my understanding of the current technology,
00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:58.740
and we have... companies here in Springfield
00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:01.600
that provide that technology, is that they don't
00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.079
use any more water than a typical convenience
00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.420
store or restaurant, depending on the size, of
00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:09.720
course, of the data center. But overall, less
00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:11.440
water than what people are concerned about. And
00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.900
is that something that we could require of them?
00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:15.960
As an example, if they were to come to town,
00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:17.619
we could say, sure, you can come, but you have
00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:20.259
to utilize this closed -loop system? That's certainly
00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:22.339
something that we could do. So part of our application
00:17:22.339 --> 00:17:25.259
process does involve a question about what type
00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:27.630
of water would be used. what type of cooling
00:17:27.630 --> 00:17:30.130
system the data center would have. And so we
00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:33.000
do have some control over that. Again, one of
00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.900
the benefits of having that here in our location
00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:36.940
is that we can provide those requirements and
00:17:36.940 --> 00:17:38.579
make sure that they're being complied with. Very
00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:41.440
good. One of the other things I've heard is that
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.019
some of these large data centers are scoping
00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:48.279
out many areas and maybe even going through the
00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:50.660
permitting process in a number of areas only
00:17:50.660 --> 00:17:52.960
to say at the last minute, nope, we chose this
00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.740
one instead of that. How are we at City Utilities
00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:57.980
sort of protecting our customers from a data
00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:00.099
center that says it's going to come to town?
00:18:01.829 --> 00:18:04.369
a lot of money to get them here, and then they
00:18:04.369 --> 00:18:07.210
skip town. Right. I believe that is true, just
00:18:07.210 --> 00:18:09.450
like any economic development project, that the
00:18:09.450 --> 00:18:10.910
developers are looking at multiple locations.
00:18:11.369 --> 00:18:14.069
Data centers in particular are looking at multiple
00:18:14.069 --> 00:18:16.549
locations because they need that power availability,
00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:19.349
and the process to determine that takes a time.
00:18:21.230 --> 00:18:24.029
hard to understand what the real aspect or load
00:18:24.029 --> 00:18:27.529
is or what it looks like because there are several
00:18:27.529 --> 00:18:30.309
tire kickers, if you will. So again, we've developed
00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:33.490
our large load application process and we require
00:18:33.490 --> 00:18:35.849
deposits to be provided to offset our staff time
00:18:35.849 --> 00:18:38.529
that's involved in reviewing those. We have about
00:18:38.529 --> 00:18:40.450
a dozen members of our large load task force
00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:43.150
and others who interact with potential data center
00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:45.569
and other large load developers on an ongoing
00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:48.329
basis. They spend an average of about three hours
00:18:48.329 --> 00:18:51.410
per day to doing that. have significant time
00:18:51.410 --> 00:18:53.130
involved, but then we have the requirement for
00:18:53.130 --> 00:18:55.650
the deposits to offset those costs. And so that
00:18:55.650 --> 00:18:57.769
deposit being that even if they were to leave,
00:18:57.970 --> 00:19:00.170
that still, we would use that to reimburse our
00:19:00.170 --> 00:19:01.890
time and whatever other expenses there were.
00:19:02.069 --> 00:19:04.930
That's correct, yes. Okay, very good. The other,
00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:07.430
another misconception is all data centers are
00:19:07.430 --> 00:19:09.670
bad for our environment and put our resources
00:19:09.670 --> 00:19:13.490
at risk. True? False? Somewhere in between? I
00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:15.710
would say it's false, although there are some
00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:17.609
who may be that. Again, we haven't seen that
00:19:17.609 --> 00:19:20.529
in Springfield. We have had the data in the Springfield
00:19:20.529 --> 00:19:23.130
Underground for a number of years and haven't
00:19:23.130 --> 00:19:25.569
seen any of those adverse effects. So not all
00:19:25.569 --> 00:19:27.450
data centers are created equal. Our goal is to
00:19:27.450 --> 00:19:29.089
protect our customers and our community through
00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:31.569
our process. You mentioned a new rate structure
00:19:31.569 --> 00:19:34.230
that will be put in place for large load customers
00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:37.809
like data centers. Is that a rate that will at
00:19:37.809 --> 00:19:40.809
all negatively affect our existing customers?
00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:43.750
The goal of that rate is to make sure that it
00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:45.650
doesn't negatively affect our existing customers.
00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:48.769
So what we do with all types of rate design is
00:19:48.769 --> 00:19:50.700
to make sure to include all costs to what we
00:19:50.700 --> 00:19:53.099
call the cost causer, and that's the customer
00:19:53.099 --> 00:19:55.160
who's in that rate class. And so we will look
00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:57.160
at all the things that go into providing power
00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:59.940
to a large load and make sure that those costs
00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:02.240
are covered within the rate. So bottom line,
00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:04.119
you're talking to your neighbor who says, I hear
00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:05.900
about all these data centers coming to town.
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.619
What are you doing about it, Dwayne? What's the
00:20:07.619 --> 00:20:09.839
bottom line for your neighbor? Bottom line is,
00:20:09.859 --> 00:20:11.279
is we're putting our current customers first.
00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:15.339
So we have the ability to say no, and we have
00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:17.339
the ability to create requirements, and we're
00:20:17.339 --> 00:20:19.279
dedicated to doing that for the benefit of our
00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.039
customers and our community. Now, you mentioned
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.059
we have the ability to say no, but there are
00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:25.299
some caveats to that. That's correct. Let's talk
00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:27.119
about that again. Sure. We have the ability to
00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:29.859
say no if the potential data center doesn't check
00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:32.759
all the boxes in terms of state and federal requirements,
00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:34.900
local requirements, and then our own utility
00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:36.960
requirements as well. And also, at the end of
00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:38.839
the day, it's not necessarily a city utilities
00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.279
decision as to whether or not a data center can
00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.700
come to town. There are a lot of permitting regulations
00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:48.119
and other things involved. Can you talk a little
00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:50.339
bit about the process as well? Sure, that's correct.
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:52.160
So there's multiple processes going on at the
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:55.180
same time, and we control the utility side of
00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:57.599
the process. But there's also land use. There's
00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:00.200
also federal and state regulations for any types
00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:01.940
of businesses, but particularly for data centers,
00:21:02.099 --> 00:21:05.680
even new ones that are being discussed at this
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.440
time at the state and federal level as well.
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:10.859
So all of those things are outside of the utility
00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:13.299
process but are going on at the same time. That's
00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:14.779
great. Is there anything else you wanted to talk
00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:16.819
about that you feel like we haven't? It seems
00:21:16.819 --> 00:21:20.599
like we've addressed a lot of issues. The primary
00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.779
ones that are affecting our customers, bottom
00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:24.559
line, we're looking to protect our customers.
00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.039
Anything else you feel like we haven't addressed?
00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:30.559
I'd just like to reiterate that our goals are
00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:32.380
first and foremost to take care of our current
00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:34.259
customers and protect them and our community.
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.839
But the way we do that is through thoughtful
00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:39.859
planning. Make sure to try to have clear communication.
00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:42.759
This is a part of that. But then the bottom line
00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:44.819
is always protection. I appreciate that. Dwayne,
00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:46.359
thank you so much for being here. Thank you.
00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:48.980
And for those of you who are looking for more
00:21:48.980 --> 00:21:50.819
information about data centers, we have a website
00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:53.720
dedicated to city utilities process. It's at
00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:56.779
cityutilities .net slash data centers. We hope
00:21:56.779 --> 00:21:58.599
you'll take a look there. If you have questions
00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:02.079
for us, be sure to send those to social at cityutilities
00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:04.619
.net. And speaking of socials, be sure you're
00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:07.940
following us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.
00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:10.500
We have two TikTok channels at city utilities
00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:13.539
and the TikTok page dedicated to this. podcast
00:22:13.539 --> 00:22:16.500
is That's Shocking Pod. New episodes are released
00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:18.859
every first and third Wednesday of the month
00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.720
at 8am. And next episode, we're talking about
00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:23.539
new battery sites, which Dwayne kind of teed
00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:25.519
up for us. We're going to talk about what they
00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.240
are, how exactly they'll be used, how they might
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.700
be used now and in the future. Again, we thank
00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:33.200
you for being here. And we're going to go off
00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:34.920
the grid for now. But thanks for plugging in
00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:37.259
and allowing us to brighten up your day. Stay
00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:38.160
energized, Springfield.