NV Energy is pulling 75 percent of Lake Tahoe's power supply by May 2027, citing data center demand as a primary reason. That leaves Liberty Utilities scrambling to replace capacity for 49,000 California residents before the deadline.
The scale of the pressure is concrete: NV Energy's own planning documents show a dozen northern Nevada data center projects could add 5,900 megawatts of new demand by 2033. Utilities are being forced to choose between existing residential customers and incoming industrial load, and residents are losing.
The Fortune investigation is worth reading in full for how it traces the regulatory paper trail, specifically Liberty's filing with California regulators that names data center growth as the stated justification. The question of who bears the cost and risk of this transition is not resolved.
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