Silicon Valley Power (SVP) plans to buy $1.4 million of critical spare components to support its substations, and is seeking increased funding for more components as it builds out its network to support data centers.

The utility said that it had acquired the components for the JungleMux communications multiplexer (JMUX) system, which supplier GE Vernova plans to discontinue from June 30.

SVP said that the JMUX is critical to the operation of 32 of its substations, and supports the transmission of data to SVP’s control center from various applications, including electrical protection systems, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, video surveillance systems, and metering systems.

Silicon Valley Power
– Sebastian Moss

The components, which it said were procured at a steep discount, will help the company construct or modify "15 JMUX nodes to meet projected electric load growth, primarily driven by the construction of new data centers and larger developments."

In 2023, SVP said that it expected data center load to almost double by 2035, necessitating an investment in substations, geothermal power, and batteries.

With the new JMUX order, SVP used money from a $2m pot that the City Council’s authorized in 2023.

In a Santa Clara city report to council, SVP said: "Going forward, additional funding is required to procure JMUX hardware and software from GE to support upcoming substation projects. Staff recommend the City Council authorize the City Manager to issue Purchase Orders to GE for an aggregate amount not to exceed $5 million (an increase of $3,000,000) through June 30, 2032."

The company added: "This increase is required to support upcoming substation projects and accounts for potential price increases due to current tariffs on imported goods."

It's not clear where the JMUX is manufactured, but the US has put tariffs of 145 percent on Chinese goods.

With JMUX discontinued, GE Vernova has encouraged customers to transition to the JPAX family. SVP said that it its staff have been working "on a long-term replacement for the JMUX system."

An RFP is expected to be released in Q3 for "a pilot program to identify potential solutions that can be implemented in a phased approach in order to have minimal effect on SVP’s electrical system."