Behind-the-meter power

Behind-the-meter (BTM) power is electricity generated at or adjacent to the consumption site — on the customer's side of the utility meter — so it flows to the data center without passing through the public grid. Examples include on-site gas turbines, fuel cells, solar-plus-storage, and data centers co-located directly with power plants, such as campuses built at nuclear or gas generation sites. BTM arrangements avoid multi-year grid interconnection queues (now 3-7 years in constrained markets), transmission charges, and grid congestion, making them increasingly attractive for AI campuses needing hundreds of megawatts quickly. The approach faces regulatory friction: co-location deals at regulated plants have drawn challenges over grid-cost allocation, as in the 2024-25 FERC disputes over the Talen-Amazon nuclear arrangement. BTM generation paired with grid backup is a growing hybrid model.