Eaton CEO Backs a Move to DC Power in Data Centers
Eaton chief Paul Ruiz says data-center builders are shifting toward 800-volt DC designs, but he says the pace of that change is outside his company's control.
The head of one of the world's biggest electrical equipment suppliers expects the AI building boom to run for years. Eaton CEO Paul Ruiz also thinks it will push data centers away from traditional low-voltage systems.
The 800-volt bet
Ruiz sees data centers moving to an 800-volt direct-current architecture. Eaton expects it to become the industry standard soon. A recent McKinsey analysis says data centers built this way could cut non-IT capital spending by up to 18%.
The enabling hardware is the solid-state transformer, or SST. It is built around magnets and semiconductors, so it needs fewer specialized steel alloys and less copper wiring. That makes it smaller and more efficient than the older transformers it replaces. In a test earlier this year, the Electric Power Research Institute, the New York Power Authority and North Carolina State University ran a 1-MW SST under real-world conditions and cut power losses in half.
Eaton paid $86 million in August 2025 for Resilient Power Systems, an SST developer. Ruiz told investors on Tuesday that its 15-kV, 2-MW SST became what the company believes is the first multi-megawatt unit to pass all tests under a new UL Solutions standard.
Timing is the open question
Ruiz warned that it may be some time before Eaton's SSTs are widely used. "The timing of that transition is not under our control," he said. He added that SSTs are one of several building blocks, alongside DC breakers, power quality and advanced cooling.
He also hedged his bet on the architecture. AC designs are not bad, he said, and Eaton is fine either way. "We win in either path."
Demand and acquisitions
Eaton reported record third-quarter sales of $8.9 billion, up 28% year over year. The company projects roughly 11% market growth in 2027. In 2025, data centers and distributed IT made up 21% of sales and utilities 11%. Backlog in the Electrical Americas segment reached $16 billion, up 33%, and rolling 12-month orders grew 39%.
Ruiz said the projects Eaton tracks worldwide now amount to 366 GW, against installed data-center capacity of 50 GW.
Recent deals point the same way. Eaton paid about $9.6 billion in March for Boyd Thermal, a maker of thermal components. It also agreed a roughly $920 million deal for COL Group, an Italian maker of medium-voltage distribution equipment.
Source: Utility Dive