Chevron signs 20-year power agreement with Microsoft for West Texas data center

Post by pixl97 » Mon, Jun 22, 2026, 10:33 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #56

alex43578 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I expect the economics of enough batteries to carry a data center’s worth of demand through the night and morning is too expensive compared to essentially free natural gas. Data centers would ideally run at ~100% utilization, so any drop in solar output needs to be fully met by batteries.

> Data centers would ideally run at ~100% utilization I don't think this is broadly accepted among major data center operators.

Post by skybrian » Mon, Jun 22, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #100

skybrian wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will also want reliable power, which seems like justification enough to keep their options open. A “phased, modular approach” sounds like it would give them options. Maybe Microsoft could install solar and/or batteries later and use their natural gas turbines for backup? With enough batteries they might get through the night, but seasonal shortages are much harder to handle that way. I bet a carbon tax on data c…

You can generally solve seasonal shortfalls cheaply by simply adding more solar / wind until you no longer have a seasonal shortfall just a massive surplus in a different part of the year. Put another way if you want to store power say 1GWh for the worst month, well a solar panel provides a lot of power over even the worst month. 20MW of solar panel averaging even 40MWh/day * 30 days = 1.2GWh and cost way less than 1…

Post by jeffbee » Mon, Jun 22, 2026, 11:00 PM UTC

pixl97 wrote: post #101

jeffbee wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Data centers would ideally run at ~100% utilization I don't think this is broadly accepted among major data center operators.

Of conventional data centers or one's running GPUs? If you're not saturating your GPUs you're likely leaving money on the table.

Post by wbl » Mon, Jun 22, 2026, 11:33 PM UTC

softwaredoug wrote: post #13

epistasis wrote: post #6

Fascinating they're going this direction when solar and batteries are so cheap in Texas... Nearly all new additions to the grid are solar, wind, and storage right now on Texas' grid. Not because of Texas regulations, but because Texas' grid is one of the few grids where generation decisions are all made by independent investors trying to make money. Especially with the shortage in gas turbine manufacturing, very surp…

While the US stays oil rich, we should expect the US to be a laggard in ending use of fossil fuels. China and EU are not oil rich, they’ll make a faster transition. Of course it’s idiotic to actively hobble clean energy. Or to put your finger on the scale for one source of energy, like the current administration does. But it’s not crazy to argue for “energy abundance” where the market just picks the cheapest energy o…

Post by buzer » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 12:07 AM UTC

Retric wrote: post #100

skybrian wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will also want reliable power, which seems like justification enough to keep their options open. A “phased, modular approach” sounds like it would give them options. Maybe Microsoft could install solar and/or batteries later and use their natural gas turbines for backup? With enough batteries they might get through the night, but seasonal shortages are much harder to handle that way. I bet a carbon tax on data c…

You can generally solve seasonal shortfalls cheaply by simply adding more solar / wind until you no longer have a seasonal shortfall just a massive surplus in a different part of the year. Put another way if you want to store power say 1GWh for the worst month, well a solar panel provides a lot of power over even the worst month. 20MW of solar panel averaging even 40MWh/day * 30 days = 1.2GWh and cost way less than 1…