TEPCO Flags Grid Build-Out Gap as Data-Center Peak Demand Could Reach 7.62 GW by FY2035

TEPCO has highlighted a widening mismatch between AI-driven data-center load growth and the time required to develop transmission and distribution infrastructure in its service area.

Speaking at Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2026 JAPAN, a TEPCO representative said forecast data-center peak demand in the service area could increase from 0.83 GW in fiscal 2026 to 7.62 GW in fiscal 2035—approximately a ninefold rise over the period. The latter figure is a demand forecast, rather than commissioned or guaranteed contracted capacity.

The company also reported aggregate data-center grid-connection applications or requests of 15 GW within its service territory. That figure represents requested connection capacity, not operating data-center capacity or actual electricity consumption. At a 60% utilization factor, the stated 15 GW load would equate to approximately 7.9 TWh of annual electricity consumption.

TEPCO’s proposed responses include locating data centers near power plants with surplus capacity and shifting some computing workloads to periods of lower grid demand. Such measures point to a greater role for geographic workload allocation and managed demand where conventional network reinforcement cannot be delivered at the pace implied by AI-related load growth.

For operators, colocation providers and large compute customers, the development constraint is increasingly the timing and certainty of grid interconnection, rather than site availability alone. Projects able to secure power early, operate flexibly or locate near available generation could face lower exposure to connection delays.