US data center developer Stream Data Centers is looking to deploy onsite natural gas generation.
In a previously unreported job listing for a distributed generation demand response lead, the role focuses on both gas and energy storage systems.
A subsidiary of Stream Realty Partners, the company operates data centers in Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama, and California. It offers build-to-suit, wholesale, and hyperscale data centers.
The company operates its own energy procurement services division, led by energy strategy SVP Brian Frazier, where it sources renewable energy and seeks to lower energy costs.
The new hire would develop a distributed energy resources (DER) strategy, as well as "support the development of any backup micro-grid strategies necessary to meet emissions requirements or required to obtain electric utility power capacity to successfully develop campus projects."
Applicants are expected to have "experience analyzing and optimizing operational considerations around both natural gas and electric utility rates and tariffs."
Data centers have increasingly turned to natural gas to support their growth, as the AI boom has coincided with a grid crunch. While proponents of natural gas trumpet it as a cleaner alternative to other fossil fuels, it still produces significantly more emissions than renewable sources of power such as wind or solar.
“In collaboration with our regional utility partners, we offer our customers all feasible and available options for power, including onsite sources when required and allowed by jurisdiction," Stream's Frazier told DCD in a statement.
"In many cases, onsite generation assets, along with operational flexibility, can assist local grids with resiliency during rare but acute periods of stress."
He added: "Our customers are the largest purchasers of new renewable generation on the planet and have been at the forefront of driving the energy transition and we support those efforts in any manner we can.”
Stream's natural gas usage would be for backup in case of emergency or grid strain, but Washington Gas said last month that some data centers are discussing using it as a primary power source.
The natural gas industry has also forecast record growth from utility power plants that will help support data centers.
"We believe there will be strong demand for the expansion with recently proposed power plants requiring the full capacity of the project for projected data center demand," AltaGas CEO Vern Yu said in November, referencing a potential expansion to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
