Increasingly, data centers and artificial intelligence (A.I.) are helping to upgrade grid infrastructure to better serve the increasing load they have created. In this ironic feedback loop, large tech companies are playing an important role.

 

Earlier in January, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) announced a new partnership with tech giant Microsoft to modernize its grid infrastructure.

The “strategic collaboration” will employ Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Foundry A.I. technologies to “transform how the grid is planned, operated and optimized.”

The partnership will increase the system operator’s ability to predict conditions, increase efficiency in its grid operation and create more rapid, data-driven decisions. The technology will employ machine learning and cloud-native analytics.

MISO identified several new and improved capabilities that will result from the collaboration. They include enhanced grid forecasting and long-range transmission planning, improved real-time reliability, increased ability to respond to grid conditions, accelerated transformation and modernization of grid infrastructure, among other benefits.

The grid operator also notes that Microsoft’s unique, cloud-based A.I. applications, Foundry and Azure, will make its systems nimbler by enhancing innovation and enabling them to stay ahead of a very rapidly changing technology landscape.

MISO highlights reduced cycle times from weeks to minutes as a key benefit. This will enable operators to make faster, more informed decisions to predict and avoid congestion before it occurs.

The effects will be widespread. MISO’s territory covers 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba, serving 45 million customers. 

MISO is not alone in its use of A.I. Other utilities and grid operators such as PJM, Duke Energy and the Southwest Power Pool have made headlines recently, announcing similar partnerships with tech companies like Google, Amazon and Hitachi to use their proprietary A.I. technology to improve grid operations.