Visions of an AI-powered future are driving a global race to develop and deploy digital infrastructure and manufacturing facilities at breakneck speed. But this future endeavor is hitting a critical roadblock, as the aging grid struggles to keep up with soaring demand.The challenge for the energy industry is two-fold: new facilities are large-scale, requiring enough power to serve the equivalent of small cities; and these new loads need power on timescales that are much faster than traditional grid planning and deployment have moved.

Across major markets, utilities are warning of capacity shortfalls and long interconnection timelines. And at the same time, stricter emissions regulations are making traditional backup strategies like diesel generation harder to justify. The National Propane Gas Association’s new white paper, ‘Powering the Digital Age: Propane’s Role in Low-Emission Data Center Infrastructure,’ focuses on alleviating this tension. This article breaks down some of the paper’s conclusions about propane-fueled backup generation, offering a realistic, immediately deployable path toward resilient, lower-emission energy for the nation’s rapidly growing data center ecosystem.

The United States’ electricity sector is at an important inflection point. For the first time in several decades, demand for electricity is growing at an unprecedented pace. Tremendous opportunities lay ahead—as well as daunting challenges. The latter is what has grabbed the interest of state governors, federal and state regulators, industry (both suppliers and consumers) and ratepayer advocates. The goal remains a reliable yet affordable electricity system. But how to get there?