Fueled by new technologies like AI, America’s demand for electricity continues to grow. A number of recent news articles have highlighted this phenomenon.
The Wall Street Journal reports,
- “Every company betting that artificial intelligence will transform how we work and live has a big—and growing—problem: AI is inherently ravenous for electricity.
- “Some experts project that global electricity consumption for AI systems could soon require adding the equivalent of a small country’s worth of power generation to our planet.”
This growth in AI is requiring the United States to construct more data centers, facilities that house the IT infrastructure necessary for storing and managing data. These data centers in turn require significant amounts of energy, as Bloomberg reports,
- “Electricity consumption at US data centers alone is poised to triple from 2022 levels, to as much as 390 terawatt hours by the end of the decade, according to Boston Consulting Group. That’s equal to about 7.5% of the nation’s projected electricity demand.
- ““We do need way more energy in the world than we thought we needed before,” said Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, whose ChatGPT tool has become a global phenomenon… “We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology.””
But while the tech industry demands more electricity, energy providers are struggling to keep up with the demand as The Washington Post reports,
- “In Georgia, demand for industrial power is surging to record highs, with the projection of new electricity use for the next decade now 17 times what it was only recently. Arizona Public Service, the largest utility in that state, is also struggling to keep up, projecting it will be out of transmission capacity before the end of the decade absent major upgrades.
- “Northern Virginia needs the equivalent of several large nuclear power plants to serve all the new data centers planned and under construction. Texas, where electricity shortages are already routine on hot summer days, faces the same dilemma.”
Unfortunately, this demand for electricity coincides with efforts by the Biden Administration’s EPA to shutter coal-fueled power plants and increase the risk of electricity shortages.
There is no question that demand for new electricity is growing and will continue to grow. The question is whether the United States will have the capacity to meet this demand.
For additional information about the nation’s fleet of coal-fired power plants, please visit www.AmericasPower.org.