As a punishing heatwave bakes major East Coast cities, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed data centers in the mid-Atlantic this week to use their backup power supplies instead of using electricity from the public grid, in part to ensure there was enough electricity to power resident air conditioning.

The U.S. Department of Energy has declared an emergency as a heat wave bears down on a huge part of the nation's electrical grid.

The department gave a major grid manager the green light to require data centers to rely on backup power.

As a punishing heatwave bakes major East Coast cities, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed data centers in the mid-Atlantic this week to use their backup power supplies…