Fallen power line exposes AI data center grid vulnerability

A power line failure outside Washington, DC, caused over 3 gigawatts of data centers to disconnect from the PJM grid within seconds, triggering voltage spikes from Northern Virginia to Chicago. The incident, detected by Ting Labs' IoT sensor network, caused regional light flickering but no blackout. PJM Interconnection, the largest US grid operator serving 67 million customers, saw 3.49 GW of excess power before stabilizing after 11 minutes. The disconnected load represented 3% of PJM's total demand. Experts warn such events are becoming more frequent as data center concentration grows, particularly in Northern Virginia, the world's highest-density data center region. ON.Energy's CTO Ricardo de Azevedo described it as a "canary in the coal mine." The event mirrors a 2024 incident where 60 data centers simultaneously disconnected 1.5 GW. By 2040, data centers are expected to account for 24% of PJM's load, up from 6% in 2024. Solutions include sequential reconnection protocols and ON.Energy's battery-based uninterruptible power supply that hides data center load fluctuations from the grid. The startup is installing 3 GW of systems at four campuses. ERCOT plans to require large loads to "ride through" disruptions.