Kevin O’Brien
Vice President, Center of Excellence Data Journey
Kevin O’Brien is Vice President, Center of Excellence at Data Journey, where he focuses on helping organisations navigate the evolving infrastructure challenges facing data centre development. In the fireside chat, Accelerating Data Center Growth Through Stronger Utility Partnerships, Kevin will discuss how closer collaboration between data centre developers and utilities can improve planning and delivery, including bridging the gap between demand forecasts and utility planning, clarifying responsibility for transmission upgrades, and addressing rising power costs driven by ageing infrastructure, plant retirements, and the transition to new energy sources.
Seminars
Wednesday 2nd December 2026
Fireside Chat: Accelerating Data Center Growth Through Stronger Utility Partnerships
10:50 am
- Closing the gap between data center demand forecasts and utility planning in regulated markets
- Clarifying who pays for transmission upgrades across monopoly utility regions to move grid expansion forward
- Managing rising power costs driven by aging infrastructure, plantretirements and the shift to gas
Wednesday 2nd December 2026
Case Study: Developing Independent Natural Gas & Hydrogen Power Strategies to Deliver 150MW+ Capacity When Utility Power Is Unavailable
11:50 am
- Navigating state-level regulatory requirements, environmental permitting pathways and utility engagement strategies to secure approvals for independent onsite power generation
- Assessing local grid constraints, state power availability and proximity to existing gas infrastructure to determine the feasibility of deploying natural gas generation at scale
- Planning dual-generation ecosystems by integrating natural gas with future-ready green hydrogen capabilities, including onsite storage, compression stations and phased transition planning
- Identifying key lessons learned from early planning through implementation, including infrastructure coordination, equipment availability, safety considerations, stakeholder alignment and execution challenges encountered along the way
Wednesday 2nd December 2026
Panel: Securing Land With Power Access to Enable Viable Development & Avoid Stranded Projects
1:30 pm
- Exploring where viable 100MW+ sites are being secured beyond saturated hubs, and what hyperscalers, colocators, developers, contractors, and project teams can learn from those locations
- Assessing workforce availability, airport access, climate risk (e.g. hurricanes, flooding), and long-term operational attractiveness across Eastern regions
- Examining how hyperscalers and colocators are entitling and positioning land for sale, and why many sites still fall short on actual power availability
