Rapid growth

Data Center Boom

The data centers arrive in 2026. Their power needs are much bigger than your small city utility, and residents still need affordable electricity.

Play Data Center Boom See what’s at stake

Free to play in your browser. Choose your difficulty in the game.

The situation

Your starting point

Start in 2020 with a municipal utility serving 16,500 customers, a gas peaker and an aging oil plant. You have six years before a major new data-center load connects to the grid.

The new demand runs around the clock. A fleet that handles the city's evening peak may be a poor fit for that extra load. Choose how to accommodate the growth, then live with the construction costs, fuel bills and emissions.

The choices

What will you do?

  1. Decide how growth connects

    Accept developer funding for the full connection in 2026, or forgo that money to phase in demand. More time means delaying some electricity sales too.

  2. Build for the hours that matter

    Compare cheap daytime generation with supply that can cover nights and cloudy periods. The data centers keep drawing power after sunset.

  3. Keep the city's customers

    Raising prices until residents leave is a costly way to make room. Plan supply and spending around the community already on your grid.

Put your plan to the test

Can a small public utility accommodate a very large new customer without passing the cost to everyone else?

Build, watch what happens, and try a different approach. The grid is yours to run.

Try this scenario

Keep exploring

All scenarios