Microsoft works with major US electric grid operator to modernize the Midwest power system

Jan 6 (Reuters) – The U.S. Midwest grid has teamed up with Microsoft, it said on Tuesday, in the latest instance of Big Tech turning to collaboration to help ensure the massive amounts of electricity needed for artificial intelligence are available. 

Over the last two years, the U.S. technology industry has deepened ties with the power sector by locking into long-term supply agreements and providing AI assistance to maximize supplies as energy-intensive data centers propel U.S. power demand to record highs.

Google partnered with PJM Interconnection – the country’s biggest power grid operator – last year to use artificial intelligence to speed up the process of connecting new electricity supplies to that regional grid. 

In the latest partnership, Microsoft technologies will be deployed in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator grid, which covers 42 million people across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

The use of those technologies will include predicting and responding to weather-related power grid disruptions, transmission line planning, and accelerating certain operations.

“Such acceleration is critical because of the increasing diversity of energy mix, electrification, rising demand and the growth of data centers,” said Nirav Shah, Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Officer at MISO. “Now is the time to partner with organizations that share a common interest in modernizing the grid operations of the future.”

Tuesday’s statement did not mention any financial details.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; editing by Barbara Lewis)