Data Centers & Technology
High load, high load factor, and a market that's changing faster than most data center operators realize.
Data centers and technology facilities in Texas operate some of the most energy-intensive loads in the commercial market. Alden Energy works with data center operators to evaluate both fixed, as well as block & index and managed portfolio pricing structures — and to understand what the evolving ERCOT market means for their energy strategy.
What We Focus On
Fixed vs. index evaluation. We model both structures against your historical load profile and give you an honest comparison — including what the downside scenarios look like for index pricing, not just the upside.
Load factor advantage. Data center load profiles are among the most favorable in the market. We make sure that's reflected in the pricing you receive.
Market structure awareness. The shift of peak pricing hours from 3–6 PM to 7–9 PM, the growth of battery storage, and the trajectory of solar generation in ERCOT are all directly relevant to data center energy strategy. We stay current on those dynamics.
Demand response consideration. Data centers with any workload flexibility — backup systems testing windows, non-critical batch processing — may have demand response opportunities worth exploring.
Why Data Centers Are Different
Data centers are among the most favorable commercial accounts from a procurement standpoint: continuous operation, high and consistent load, excellent load factor, and predictable usage history. Those characteristics produce competitive pricing from suppliers and create genuine optionality around contract structure.
The ERCOT market has also changed significantly in ways that are directly relevant to data center operators. The rapid growth of solar generation has fundamentally shifted the intraday pricing curve — daytime wholesale prices, especially during solar peak hours, have compressed dramatically. This creates an environment where index pricing — with a fixed retail adder applied against the real-time settlement price — deserves serious consideration for data center loads, particularly those with any flexibility around non-critical workloads.
We're not advocates for index pricing for most commercial customers. For data centers specifically, the combination of high load factor, 24/7 operation, and the current ERCOT pricing environment makes it worth a genuine conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
We've heard index pricing can be extremely volatile — is that still true?
It can be, particularly during weather events or grid stress. The key question is how your load flexibility and risk tolerance interact with that volatility. We model the historical scenarios honestly — including the bad ones — before making any recommendation.
We're evaluating a Texas data center site — can you help with procurement planning before we're operational?
Yes — getting ahead of the energy contract before a facility goes live is ideal. We can model what competitive pricing looks like for your anticipated load profile and have options ready when you need them.