Data center electricity demand will grow 133% by 2030 across the United States
“When demand increases and supply decreases, costs will rise,” said Exelon CEO Calvin Butler. “And that’s what we’re seeing now.”
In 2024, US data centers will use more than 4% of total US electricity consumption, according to the International Energy Agency. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used by the entire country of Pakistan annually. US data center consumption is expected to grow 133% by the end of the decade, using the same amount of energy as the entire country of France.
“He was Headquartered in ChicagoWe are the owners of ComEd, the fourth largest utility in the country. ComEd’s peak load is about 23 gigawatts. “We’ve got a data center load on the system, but by 2030, we’ll be at 19 gigawatts,” Butler said.
AI data centers in the United States use more than 4% of total US electricity consumption, according to the International Energy Agency. (Exelon)
Commonwealth Edison has seen a significant increase in Data center connection requests. The total potential projects amount to more than 30 gigawatts, and are expected to be operated between now and 2045.
“Our growth has been unprecedented in the last few decades. So, with the advent of the data center and the advent of technology, we’ve had to service that load, and it’s our responsibility,” Butler said. “But what we also have to do is build the supply of a new generation, which is not keeping up with the burden that is coming. And that is the crisis we are facing now.”
Commonwealth Edison is asking regulators for a $15.3 billion, 4-year grid upgrade to meet growing demand. The United States overall has increased its grid capacity by more than 15% over the past decade, but many utilities and energy producers say that is not enough.
“We are now at a point where we are limited by electricity.” Commonwealth merger regulations CEO Bob Mumgaard said. “You want to create power plants that can produce a lot of power in a small package that you can put anywhere, that you can turn on at any time, and fusion fits that bill.”
Zanskar, is the first geothermal company powered by artificial intelligence, according to its website. This plant is located in New Mexico. (Zanskar)
Commonwealth Fusion Systems is adding a new form of nuclear energy to the grid – fusion. It has the same reliable benefits of standard nuclear power already in use, but does not produce long-lived radioactive waste and carries fewer risks.
“In nuclear fusion there is no chain reaction,” Mumgaard said. “The result is helium, which is safe and inert and you can’t use it to make anything weapons-related.”
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Commonwealth Fusion Systems says AI is helping bring fusion energy closer to being a new resource.
“Building and designing these complex machines and processing this complex plasma data are all things we’re still learning and still figuring out how to do,” Mumgaard said. “This is an area that we have been able to accelerate using AI.”
Other untapped energy sources could soon get a big boost thanks to artificial intelligence. Geothermal energy is a small part of the electrical grid, due to high drilling costs and low confidence in where infrastructure is built.
Geothermal and nuclear fusion technology will allow energy to be produced in any weather and at any time. (AP)
“If you can drill the perfect geothermal well every time, like pick the right spot, design the right well, drill 5,000 to 8,000 feet, and get to temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, that’s incredibly productive,” said Joel Edwards, co-founder of Zanskar. “If you can do that over and over again, geothermal is the cheapest energy source ever.”
Zanskar is working on making Research on geothermal energy More accurate. The company uses AI-powered maps to find untapped resources that were previously thought not to exist.
“If we can be more precise in where we go to find things and then how to excavate them, the cost curve for geothermal will definitely go down,” Edwards said. “And that’s where we’re moving towards, where AI gives us a boost, gives us an advantage to do that.”
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Both geothermal energy and nuclear fusion can produce power in any weather and at any time, a component that could have helped relieve grid stress amid… The last winter storm.
“It’s critical, and we’ve been sounding this alarm for years now, and I use the analogy that you’re driving a car and your check engine light is on, but you keep driving it, hoping that you keep getting there and keep moving forward, but when it breaks down, you’re going to have a much higher cost,” Butler said. “We have to pay attention to what’s happening, and this winter storm — Winter Storm Fern — is an indication of what’s coming.”
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