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April 16 (Reuters) – U.S. utility NiSource said on Thursday it had signed a long-term energy supply agreement with a unit \u200cof Alphabet to support a large data center in northern \u200cIndiana.<\/p>\n
The company also said it had expanded an agreement with Amazon to speed up \u200bpower delivery to its sites and bring forward bill credits for households.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Big Tech firms have been scouring for new, reliable and cleaner energy sources to power their rapidly expanding data centers, which are being driven \u200cby the increasing use of \u2060artificial-intelligence applications.<\/p>\n
\u2022 GenCo is NiSource’s model that supplies power to large customers using dedicated generation and market resources, \u2060while shielding existing customers from added costs and delivering system-wide savings.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The GenCo model aims to ensure existing customers benefit from new large users, \u200bwith savings \u200bestimated at about $1.25 billion, or $90 to $115 \u200ba year per household.<\/p>\n
\u2022 NIPSCO \u200cand GenCo will provide generation and transmission infrastructure to serve data centers, with about 340 megawatts from a GenCo-owned portfolio supplemented by up to 175 megawatts of seasonal market purchases.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Lawmakers in Maine voted earlier this week for a bill that would halt new large data \u200ccenter approvals as concerns mount that the \u200brapid buildout of power-guzzling facilities could strain \u200blocal grids and push \u200bup household energy bills.<\/p>\n
\u2022 “The cost savings announced today expand \u200con the previously announced $1 billion in \u200bcustomer savings with \u200bAmazon as we continue to work closely with a broad coalition of stakeholders to bring this GenCo vision to life,” said \u200bNiSource President and CEO \u200cLloyd Yates.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The power supply for Alphabet was expected to \u200bbegin in summer 2026, the company said.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Varun Sahay \u200bin Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n