Tech giant Microsoft has signed a global framework agreement to back renewable energy projects worth about $10 billion and buy power developed by Brookfield Asset Management, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The Financial Times noted that the agreement aims to provide about 10.5 GW of solar and wind power between 2026 and 2030, and based on recent industry trends, this capacity will cost more than $10 billion to develop.

According to the Financial Times, Microsoft's deal with Brookfield would be the largest power purchase agreement for such a company, nearly tripling the 3 GW of power currently consumed by data centers in East Lawton County, Virginia. Lawton County, known as Data Center Lane, is the "largest data center market" in the world.

The surge in artificial intelligence technology and the massive construction of data centers in the United States has the biggest tech companies scrambling for grid connections and reliable power supplies to power the technologies of the future.

Most large companies want their power sources to be as clean as possible, preferably renewable. But utilities are struggling to keep up with soaring demand for data centers while maintaining reliable operations for all customers in the areas they serve. While Amazon, Microsoft, and all the other tech giants want solar and wind to power their operations, delivery times for new grid connections may take longer than they'd like.

After more than a decade of flat electricity consumption in the United States, the boom in artificial intelligence and the manufacture of chips and other technologies is leading to rising demand for electricity in the United States. Data centers consume so much electricity that U.S. utilities and regulators have dramatically raised their forecasts for peak electricity demand over the next decade. Renewable energy giant NextEra energy, for example, said in an investor presentation in March that electricity demand in the United States is experiencing exponential growth, driven by surging demand for data centers.

Consulting firm Grid Strategies released a report earlier this year that analyzed data on utility regulatory outcomes. The analysis found that over the past year, grid planners have nearly doubled their five-year load growth forecasts, driven primarily by investments in new manufacturing, industrial and data center facilities. Editor/Xu Shengpeng