TEPCO to Invest ¥220 Billion to Enhance Data Center Distribution Grids in Chiba Prefecture on Demand from AI Use

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:07 JST, July 31, 2025

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. has decided to invest ¥220 billion through the early 2030s to enhance substations and distribution grids in areas around Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, where many data centers are located.

As the use of AI is expected to cause a surge in electricity demand from data centers, TEPCO is preparing to establish a supply system to meet the demand.

According to the company, while an increasing number of data centers have been constructed in Inzai and surrounding areas, electricity demand is also growing. The company doubled its capacity to supply electricity to 1.1 million kilowatts in 2022 and further increased to 1.7 million kilowatts in 2024.

While increasing its supply capacity, the company plans to upgrade the capacity of its distribution grids to 2.3 million kilowatts through 2027, which account for about 650,000 ordinary households.

Data centers are concentrated in areas within 50 kilometers of the Tokyo metropolitan area as it is easy to secure personnel for the maintenance and operation of the centers.

TEPCO estimates that electricity demand in the company’s service area will be 9.54 million kilowatts for fiscal 2037, which is 27 times bigger than fiscal 2024.

In addition to strengthening its electricity supply capacity to data centers, the company is expected to include a plan to integrally develop infrastructures for both electricity and data transmission in its business plan, which is currently being formulated. It also aims to encourage the development of data centers in areas where the company has sufficient electricity supply capacity.