As digital transformation continues to advance, data center developers face the increasing challenge of securing a grid connection. In some places, wait times to get connected are as long as 10 years – maybe even more.

For Eric Dupont, SVP of customer care at PowerSecure, this challenge has changed the way that operators think about their power infrastructure and long-term planning.

“It’s a new paradigm,” he explains during a recent DCD>Talk episode. “Data centers have been growing at a faster scale than before, when power was a given. The amount of growth now is really putting a strain on the electrical grid in the US and it’s creating a lot of uncertainty.”

As a subsidiary of Southern Company, PowerSecure sees the demand conundrum from both sides of the equation. For Dupont, who leads teams that are responsible for commissioning, servicing and maintaining systems, among other responsibilities, he sees how much the landscape has changed across the entire industry.

“Power is no longer certain. You have to work closely with utilities and think about the impact if utility power is not going to be available,” he says. “Power commitments can create tremendous delays in the business plans of data center developers and owners.”

To succeed, the data center industry needs to approach power procurement in a different way. For PowerSecure, this means thinking about the entire lifecycle of a particular asset, rather than just considering one point in time.

“We want to drive home a tremendous customer experience and enable customers to get the full value of the systems that we install for them,” Dupont adds. “Ultimately, we want to make sure that we’re putting in the right equipment to provide a resilient solution.”

In the past, bridging power has traditionally been viewed as a temporary measure. The industry is now rethinking it as part of a broader resilience strategy to seize the current market opportunity. Dupont suggests bridge solutions can be used to enable data center power within a shorter timeframe, with greater certainty and assets on-site to facilitate enhanced control over power generation.

“These assets are important because we can roll those into a resiliency solution for the data center,” he says. “You enable earlier operation, but can also complete utility interconnection. Once these are energized, these assets will be available for resiliency purposes.”

During the conversation, Dupont also alludes to data center operators not necessarily seeing the full value of being an energy asset. Although they operate backup power systems, they might be less familiar with a prime power application – where a unit is continuously operating, requiring more attention on the energy system.

He explains how operators should therefore approach it from a data center developer or owner standpoint, focusing on what’s most aligned with business strategy – typically data center operations.

“Partnering with a company like PowerSecure, which has the experience of understanding and operating energy assets, aligns the objectives between the two parties,” he says. “Alignment can bring a wholesome and complete solution in the data center, without risking uncertainty.”

He adds: “It’s about understanding the operational knowledge that the data center has and making sure they align appropriately between what they feel comfortable with, and what they feel is best suited for another party to take on.”

A resilient power strategy moves beyond a basic outage. Systems need to be designed with both the bridging period and the post-utility period in mind, Dupont says, to ensure assets are available to operate over the full system lifecycle and thereby align with the data center’s operational goals and objectives.

“You can’t wait for the energy asset to ramp up and take the load,” he adds. “Thinking about the full lifecycle helps avoid assets or technologies needing to be changed.”

As the data center landscape continues to facilitate more gigawatt-scale campuses, companies are having to be smart about how they utilize space. This involves planning ahead and selecting the right design partners.

“Land is at a premium – it’s a big part of the equation when you’re building a data center,” Dupont explains. “It’s important at gigawatt-level that you’re setting up a system that you’re not going to have to replace.”

To support these ecosystems, PowerSecure and others across the wider industry are positioning themselves as strong data center partners. In today’s AI-driven world, the devil really does seem to be in the details.

Click here to watch the full DCD>Talks episode with Eric Dupont.