The Tech Giants Behind Data Centers Need to Read the Room

When the heatwave rolled in, turbines stepped up. We’re not talking about box fans or ACs: We’re talking real wind power.

Earlier this month, a sweltering heat wave pushed many of us to our limit – New England’s grid included. Last year, during a similar stretch, the region got nearly 15% of its peak power from dirty, expensive oil-fired peaker plants. This year, with Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind online, oil’s share dropped below 10%. Total oil-fired generation across the four-day event fell 37% compared to a 2025 heatwave.

The grid didn’t just survive the heat wave. It handled it better, cleaner, and cheaper.

Offshore wind has faced relentless attacks: stop-work orders, lease pauses, and most recently, billions in taxpayer money paid by the Trump administration to developers to abandon future projects. Their argument has been that it’s unreliable, expensive, and seasonal. The July data from Grid Status says otherwise.

And solar pulled its weight during the excruciating heat, too. Rooftop and distributed solar saved New Englanders an astonishing $130 million in just one week, according to data from the Acadia Center. It’s clear: Clean energy is a win for affordability and grid reliability, especially when we need it most.

Contrast that with PJM, the Mid-Atlantic grid operator. During a separate bout of extreme heat this summer, PJM pushed up against its all-time demand record and only held on by using federal emergency orders to curtail data centers and waive power-plant pollution limits, its third such emergency this year. Wholesale prices briefly topped $2,500 per megawatt-hour, about 60 times the normal rate.

To read the full article from Deploy Action, click here.