data-center load lost in the July 10 2024 N. Virginia 230 kV disturbance (six faults over 82 s; 60 sites, 25 substations) — later a driver of NERC's rare May 2026 Level 3 alert
~1,500 MWobserved
| Value kind | observed — Reported measurements, counts, and specifications keep the precision and scope stated by their source; an exact specification is not treated as a range. |
|---|---|
| Scope | Load loss as seen by the grid. NERC's incident review ('Load Details') found the affected data centers transferred their loads to backup power — static UPS, decentralized rack UPS, or DRUPS — in response to the disturbance. The figure is a loss of demand at the interconnection, not evidence that IT power was interrupted or that training jobs restarted. |
| Caveat | The approximately 1,500 MW is the total customer-side load reduction coincident with the six-fault sequence; NERC reports approximately 1,260 MW as the sustained drop at the third voltage depression. The NERC-investigated canonical case. A second, larger occurrence followed on 2026-07-22: ~3.8 GW dropped on a single normally-cleared Ashburn 230 kV fault (see companion key number). Two vintages of the same failure mode, not a replacement figure. |
| As of | 2024-07 |
| Source | NERC Incident Review of the July 2024 event; NERC Level 3 Alert (May 2026) |
| Review | checking…review by 2027-05-01 · standard cadence |
| Recorded changes | last 2026-09-16 · 21 revisions tracked |
| Claim id | data-center-load-lost-in-the-july-10-2024-n |
Where the guide uses it
- 0.5 Reliability, Redundancy & Availability: The Design-Basis Primer
- 4.1 Power Topology Foundations & Voltage Selection
- 4.2 Utility Interconnect, On-Site Substation & MV Distribution
- 4.3 Substation & Transmission Ownership, Operations & NERC Compliance
- 4.5 UPS & Energy Storage: From Ride-Through to Transient Absorption
- 4.8 On-Site Generation: Electrical Integration
- 4.10 Grid-Interactive Behavior: Ride-Through, Reactive/Voltage Support & Frequency Response Toward the POI
- 7.12 On-Package Power Delivery & Power Integrity
- 11.2 Physical Security: Siting, Zones & Kinetic/Drone Threats
- 11.10 Cyber-Physical & Destructive Attacks on OT/Facility Systems
- 11.11 Compliance, Certification & Governance
- 12.2 The AI-Cluster Reliability Rethink: Goodput vs Facility Availability
- 13.3 Electrical Power Acceptance (L3/L4)
- 13.4 Commissioning On-Site Generation & Microgrid Controls
- 13.6 Level 5 Integrated Systems Testing (IST) & Failure-Mode Demonstration
- 14.5 Predictive & Preventive Maintenance of Power and Cooling Plant
- 14.7 Capacity, Power & Thermal Management in Operation
- F Failure-Mode / FMEA Catalog
← Full numbers register — every date-stamped figure in the guide, with revision history.