“We'd walk into places and we'd be like, we'd like to put 100 chargers in this particular location. And that's not something that utility companies could handle in some areas. … The biggest thing we have learned along the way has been share it early and share it often and make sure you're connected with the utility partners on what your plans are. Because with the overall power situation just being tighter, there's less flexibility or excess capacity.”
The Energy Gang · Climate & Energy · November 2026
Context
Asked whether Amazon runs into grid-connection limits when adding chargers, he says early requests overwhelmed local capacity. Amazon now shares long-range forecasts with utilities so they can build ahead of demand, a lesson that echoes the strain data centers are putting on the grid.
Transcript
So there are some places in the U.S. that require it, in California, for example, where we have installed solar as an example. It's still in a pretty small scale, if I put it in context of the broader network, but we are doing it where it's required and where it makes sense.
…of issues at times? I guess in particular, because you're at that more local level, you're on the distribution grid, which may have a different set of challenges from what's being faced on the transmission network. I mean, as I say, do you find problems? And if you do, how do you get past them?
I would more regard it as teething things that we had had early on, especially along the way, where, you know, we'd walk into places and we'd be like, we'd like to put 100 chargers in this particular location. And that's not something that utility companies could handle in some areas. In some areas, they had excess capacity that could deal with it. What we have found over the years is by us sharing this more longer range forecast with our partners and them sort of almost building to that or planning to that along the way, we've been able to accomplish more of it quicker than most people have thought about before. But that is a continuously evolving journey as well. And it…
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So my understanding is that Amazon's pretty optimistic about electrification. You know, you hear people with these very conservative targets. I'm going to get the 20% or I'm going to get the whatever. But Amazon thinks that the potential here is quite large, correct?
Yeah, and we've been happy with the results that we've seen. Emily sort of shared some of the outcomes that we've seen. As we've gone through the process, there are challenges with anytime you're making such a step change in technology or within transportation in general. It's a meaningful step…
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