Technology

The problem is that the situation isn't strictly new for Liberty, and has been dragging for the better part of two decades. Per the Fortune report, Liberty was supposed to have started buying power from other sellers as far back as 2009, when NV Energy sold Liberty its California assets. A temporary agreement was set in place so the situation could be resolved, but that was extended repeatedly in 2015, 2020, and 2025, a fact that Fortune says it verified via regulatory documents.

Danielle Hughes, a local resident and CEO of the nonprofit Tahoe Spark, also points out that at only 49,000 strong, even if the area could get a good short-term deal on power coming from the west side, it wouldn't be able to find affordable long-term pricing competing with giants. Understandably, Spark and another local interest group want the California Public Utilities Commission to fully oversee Liberty's procurement process, except that the entity has no actual power over NV Energy.

For its part, NV Energy is building out its Greenlink West 525 kV line and intends to transition Lake Tahoe to this pipe, but watts are only expected to flow on it come May 2027, making for the closest of shaves. The operator says that the transition was set "well before data center load growth was a consideration," and "not a reaction to recent developments," but at the same time, there's no telling if the schedule could slip.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/49-000-lake-tahoe-residents-could-be-left-powerless-as-ai-data-centers-inhale-electricity-supply-power-company-looking-to-redirect-power-to-12-data-centers-high-demand-plus-a-regulatory-limbo-equals-a-dim-situation

If we could stop reposting this every hour or so, that would be great. The outrage over data centers aside it looks like this problem has been ongoing for more than a decade.