Front-of-the-meter (FTM)

Front-of-the-meter (FTM) describes generation or energy-storage assets that connect directly to the utility grid and sell power or grid services into wholesale markets, rather than sitting on a customer's own side of the meter — the mirror image of behind-the-meter (BTM) systems that serve a single facility's private load. Data center operators increasingly contract with FTM solar, wind and battery projects through power purchase agreements to match load with renewable generation on paper, even when the physical electrons come from the shared grid, while BTM generators and batteries installed on-site provide backup power or peak shaving the operator controls directly. In the US, utility-scale FTM battery storage capacity grew from near zero in the mid-2010s to more than 20 GW by 2025 according to EIA data, with a large share of that build-out tied to renewable PPAs and grid-firming contracts that hyperscalers and colocation operators increasingly sign to hit clean-energy targets. The FTM/BTM distinction matters for accounting: FTM contracts typically count toward a company's renewable-matching claims, while BTM assets show up on the facility's own resiliency and demand-response numbers.