Committee hears warning that data-center growth could require new dispatchable generation

Dr. David Dismukes, professor emeritus at the Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, told the Kansas Utilities Committee on an informational day that rapid growth in electricity demand — driven in part by data centers, industrial electrification and expanded oil-and-gas and refining activity — could create a capacity shortfall unless policymakers and utilities plan for more dispatchable generation.

Dismukes said the electric system has added substantial renewable energy in recent years but that those resources are “intermittent” and often unavailable during peak hours. He warned the committee that the system is approaching an inflection point in which capacity — not just energy production — will determine reliability and rates.

“If we are hitting a new era for energy demand, we are and we’re hitting it very quickly,” Dismukes said. He told senators that many transmission interconnection requests are for…