AI Power Consumption Surge Strains US Electricity Grid, Coal-Powered Plants Make a Comeback

[AleksandarK]

The artificial intelligence boom is driving a sharp rise in electricity use across the United States, catching utilities and regulators off guard. In northern Virginia's "data center alley," demand is so high that the local utility temporarily halted new data center connections in 2022. Nation-wide, electricity consumption at data centers alone could triple by 2030 to 390 TeraWatt Hours. Add in new electric vehicle battery factories, chip plants, and other clean tech manufacturing spurred by federal incentives, and demand over the next five years is forecast to rise at 1.5%—the fastest rate since the 1990s. Unable to keep pace, some utilities are scrambling to revise projections and reconsider previous plans of closing fossil fuel plants even as the Biden administration pushes for more renewable energy. Some older coal power plans will stay online, until the grid adds more power production capacity. The result could be increased emissions in the near term and risks of rolling blackouts if infrastructure continues lagging behind demand.

The situation is especially dire in Virginia, the world's largest data center hub. The state's largest utility, Dominion Energy, was forced to pause new data center connections for three months last year due to surging demand in Loudoun County. Though connections have resumed, Dominion expects load growth to almost double over the next 15 years. With data centers, EV factories, and other power-hungry tech continuing rapid expansion, experts warn the US national electricity grid is poorly equipped to handle the spike. Substantial investments in new transmission lines and generation are urgently needed to avoid businesses being turned away or blackouts in some regions. Though many tech companies aim to power operations with clean energy, factories are increasingly open to any available power source.



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[Deleted member 229121]

Yet another reason AI needs a brake-check and guard rails...

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Mining by a different name lol

 

[Carillon]

Pollute the atmosphere so that the humans retreat underground, let them build more power plants, and when they're done, dump all the radioactive wastes down their holes (I mean holes in the ground).
Sounds like a solid plan
GGWP skynet

 

[thesmokingman]

This is the same BS MSM playbook. Anti-EV; Ohnoes EV's are killing California's grid, see no bueno. Replace EV with AI, boom clicks. It's like the FUD is prophetic. Maybe we should close more nuclear plants and add even more coal?

 

[Daven]

AI is going to kill us before it gets a chance to kill us.

 

[TheEndIsNear]

No they aren't. I'm in the industry. They blew up the coal plants. Now we don't have enough power. To say it's because of a.i is bs. Lets build electric cars and tear down electric plants makes sense when you don't have replacement base load power. Our government caused this. They've caused every problem we have. They are mentally retarded. The first person that freezes to death their family should sue them. It's insane. They make the cars first then the chargers oh wait there's not enough power durrrr. Our government hates its citizens for sure. The way they did it it's now going to take longer for the magical green transition. I know they think there's pixie dust behind the light switch. There's wishful thinking and reality. They have no idea the reality. As soon as I'm retired I'm out of this shithole country. It'll be 3rd world soon anyways.

 

[Deleted member 229121]

When it comes to bureaucracy there's no shortage of ignorance/stupidity, but intentional malice toward our own populous regarding this subject? No.

 

[mechtech]

Called it

 

[FoulOnWhite]

No they aren't. I'm in the industry. They blew up the coal plants. Now we don't have enough power. To say it's because of a.i is bs. Lets build electric cars and tear down electric plants makes sense when you don't have replacement base load power. Our government caused this. They've caused every problem we have. They are mentally retarded. The first person that freezes to death their family should sue them. It's insane. They make the cars first then the chargers oh wait there's not enough power durrrr. Our government hates its citizens for sure. The way they did it it's now going to take longer for the magical green transition. I know they think there's pixie dust behind the light switch. There's wishful thinking and reality. They have no idea the reality. As soon as I'm retired I'm out of this shithole country. It'll be 3rd world soon anyways.

Also nuclear was demonised terribly, when it is infact the cleanest 24/7 source of electricity.

 

[R-T-B]

No they aren't. I'm in the industry. They blew up the coal plants. Now we don't have enough power. To say it's because of a.i is bs. Lets build electric cars and tear down electric plants makes sense when you don't have replacement base load power. Our government caused this. They've caused every problem we have. They are mentally retarded. The first person that freezes to death their family should sue them. It's insane. They make the cars first then the chargers oh wait there's not enough power durrrr. Our government hates its citizens for sure. The way they did it it's now going to take longer for the magical green transition. I know they think there's pixie dust behind the light switch. There's wishful thinking and reality. They have no idea the reality. As soon as I'm retired I'm out of this shithole country. It'll be 3rd world soon anyways.

A person is probably going to cook to death in a heat wave come summer before someone freezes at this rate, but that does not change the fact that global warming is a real issue and using coal is a really bad idea at this point in time. We need to adapt or people are going to die either way.

Also nuclear was demonised terribly, when it is infact the cleanest 24/7 source of electricity.

I agree with that. Most modern (as in, younger) liberals do ironically.

 

[Why_Me]

A person is probably going to cook to death in a heat wave come summer before someone freezes at this rate, but that does not change the fact that global warming is a real issue and using coal is a really bad idea at this point in time. We need to adapt or people are going to die either way.


I agree with that. Most modern (as in, younger) liberals do ironically.

American automobile owners are giving the electric grid a break so that's a plus ^^

https://twitter.com/x/status/1750608687058624969

 

[mechtech]

Also nuclear was demonised terribly, when it is infact the cleanest 24/7 source of electricity.

Yes it was. I would say hydro is the cleanest 24/7 source.................if one takes in the whole picture for nuclear - as in mining the uranium, all the rough waste from that, then refining and all the waste from that then all the low level and high level post waste storage/containment after that, then decommissioning the plant after 50–60 years of service, etc. Now for the plant itself, well minimal emissions while in operation unless it goes Chernobyl or Fukushima.
That's the main issue with radioactive materials, can't see or smell or taste or feel, and not everyone has a Geiger counter. Nothing wrong with coal if you have great scrubbers, electrostatic precips, low sulphur coal, etc. Just a crap ton of CO2.

The biggest issue with human race is overall consumption for wants vs needs. If there were more tiers for cost, then maybe people/companies wouldn't be so wasteful.

Also, the best grids are well maintained ones and ones that have multiple types of generating stations.

 

[A Computer Guy]

AI is going to kill us before it gets a chance to kill us.

I saw something recently they were going to build an AI ship so it can work unhindered in international waters and cooled by ocean currents.

I know how to solve this energy problem. If everyone in the USA (illegal alien or not) gets an exercise bike that's hooked up to a generator and we divide up the work day into 6 shifts, we can solve the employment, obesity, climate, and energy crisis at the same time.

 

[A&P211]

A person is probably going to cook to death in a heat wave come summer before someone freezes at this rate, but that does not change the fact that global warming is a real issue and using coal is a really bad idea at this point in time. We need to adapt or people are going to die either way.


I agree with that. Most modern (as in, younger) liberals do ironically.

I welcome our death overloads

 

[remixedcat]

Called it

me too!

 

[InVasMani]

So basically any dirty power source is better than the rich hypocrite elites losing monetary gains. Just like bitcoin if it's profitable they don't care about any of the other factors.

 

[Icon Charlie]

So basically any dirty power source is better than the rich hypocrite elites losing monetary gains. Just like bitcoin if it's profitable they don't care about any of the other factors.

Agreed. I've been warning people about the elites for 30+ years. It is a hideous game plan that they play.

 

[JohH]

You hate to see it. The coal plants should be banned and rates increased for non-residential customers until these megacorps start thinking straight.

 

[Vayra86]

No they aren't. I'm in the industry. They blew up the coal plants. Now we don't have enough power. To say it's because of a.i is bs. Lets build electric cars and tear down electric plants makes sense when you don't have replacement base load power. Our government caused this. They've caused every problem we have. They are mentally retarded. The first person that freezes to death their family should sue them. It's insane. They make the cars first then the chargers oh wait there's not enough power durrrr. Our government hates its citizens for sure. The way they did it it's now going to take longer for the magical green transition. I know they think there's pixie dust behind the light switch. There's wishful thinking and reality. They have no idea the reality. As soon as I'm retired I'm out of this shithole country. It'll be 3rd world soon anyways.

You're in the industry yet its the government's fault?

Where's the industry in paving the path forward then? All they show is complacency and stagnation, even in the face of 30-40 years of knowledge about climate impact. I think you need a reality check. EV adoption if left to the market would be dead in its tracks by now, you wouldn't even have Tesla (its heavily subsidized). We'd still be full on diesels and other ICE's that even to this day lie about the amount of real world emissions and the cancerous substances in them. Despite AdBlue, despite dieselgate, despite decades of supposed 'innovation in cars'.

The chicken-egg situation wrt EV's and chargers was clear from the get-go, and is natural in any paradigm shift. Our gov 'hates its citizens'... has absolutely nothing to do with any of this, even if it were true. Maybe you should read a history book or two.

 

[R0H1T]

They make the cars first then the chargers oh wait there's not enough power durrrr.

Pretty sure that's on Tesla & the ones crying for EV should probably hand over their federal(?) credits that subsidized these cars for so long! The issue is the industry isn't willing to do more to increase (interoperable)charging stations & increasing/tapping greener electric power sources. You know why? Because they don't effin care about anything but their bottom line & "investing" more hurts that.

 

[wNotyarD]

Yes it was. I would say hydro is the cleanest 24/7 source.................if one takes in the whole picture for nuclear - as in mining the uranium, all the rough waste from that, then refining and all the waste from that then all the low level and high level post waste storage/containment after that, then decommissioning the plant after 50–60 years of service, etc. Now for the plant itself, well minimal emissions while in operation unless it goes Chernobyl or Fukushima.
That's the main issue with radioactive materials, can't see or smell or taste or feel, and not everyone has a Geiger counter. Nothing wrong with coal if you have great scrubbers, electrostatic precips, low sulphur coal, etc. Just a crap ton of CO2.

In operation hydro is cleanest, pronto. During construction, though, it generates A LOT of CO2 (and other gasses) when flooding their reservoirs if deforestation isn't correctly done, and it causes a lot of other environmental issues as well. And I say that while working at the most successful hydro plant in the world.

Solar and wind-powered generation also occupy too much area for the power they actually generate, and there's also an environmental hit for the production of their equipment and the area they're installed. So all things considered, I say nuclear is the cleanest (and also the most regular throughput) generation available.

 

[InVasMani]

Geothermal as well. I'd love to see a chimney built with TEG's integrated into the design that harvests the waste heat into power. It's kind of been done with like camping wood stoves on a much smaller less practical scale.

 

[Kapone33]

Hubris, greed, xenophobia and incompetence. It is Jan 26th today, I live in Canada and it is raining like April outside. It snowed on Monday and Tuesday, all of the snow melted by Wednesday. I live in a place where this should not be happening. It was the oil companies that coined the phrase Climate change. Let that reality hit you. Someone mentioned Nuclear. Just because the US decided to coat their bullets, tanks and some air planes with spent nuclear fuel, storing it is still the biggest issue. There is also the impact that Nuclear has on the environment. Who around the Great Lakes wants to go back to Acid Rain? The young did not live through Three Mile Island and some of them have no clue what Chernobyl was. It is already too late. I was reading a story on the Weather Network stating that the jet stream is going to be a straight line between Beijing and Vancouver in a few days. I have seen clouds moving at 80+ KPH change direction 3 times in one day. You can believe me, doubt me or even disdain me but the weather is taking us on a ride that will have everyone on Earth afraid of the weather. I saw some people have decided to build an AI boat so that they are not under the control of any government. If the Ocean doesn't sink it first. That is like the idiots trying to build a colony on Mars (Until they were reminded of the danger of Martian Dust Storms). So now the Moon becomes the prize for the people that think they are in control. Let us burn coal for the quest for convenience, wow.

 

[theouto]

What the hell is going on, this so called paradigm shift is so much worse than advertised, and it was already advertised as quite horrible.

What the fuck man, can we go back please?