2025.10.03 | Avoid Stranded Assets: Fixing Volatile Data Center Load Forecasts

Geopolitical volatility around essential tech hardware, like the reported chip deal delays, is exposing utilities to billions in potential stranded assets when massive forecasted data center load vanishes. We break down the tightening regulatory environment, focusing on new NERC compliance rules that push supply chain risk down to developers and expand required physical security protocols to non-critical facilities. Learn how to strategically shift security spending, adapt Integrated Resource Planning processes, and understand why specialized, often unregulated firms are aggressively capturing the high-margin power quality space demanded by data centers. Finally, we detail the dual impact of lower expected interest rates, which gives regulators more ammunition to push back hard on requested returns on equity (ROE) during rate cases.