News out of Michigan this week: DTE Energy is in discussion to supply up to 7 GW to new data centers...and is on track to reach agreement on the first project by the end of 2025.
DTE said it aims to ink the first agreement (1 GW for a hyperscaler’s project) before 2026.
The utility has north of 1 GW of capacity available and intends to add 1 GW of storage to match this data center’s demand watt for watt.
How? A combination of PPAs and self-build coming in at a cost of about $1 billion.
What makes DTE so attractive for these hyperscalers? DTE President Joi Harris said it's two-fold:
Michigan has excess generation capacity.
Michigan has tax incentives to attract data centers.
My question: As we reckon more and more with the reality that demand is soaring and supply, well...isn't (at least not at the same pace), what other states might join Michigan in wooing hyperscalers?
We know we need more power, and we've got smart people building it. But where is becoming an increasingly interesting question. What do you think? Which state might be the next Virginia?