Energy is now the ‘primary bottleneck’ for AI

Data centers are an impressive energy success story. Over the last 25 years, internet traffic has climbed more than 500x while data center electricity use has remained flat. 

The servers and energy infrastructure have gotten wildly more efficient, and the biggest tech companies have focused on powering those warehouse-scale computers with renewables.

But a lot of people are suddenly alarmed about data centers again, as energy demand for AI surges.

Data centers are getting built so fast, many utilities are pushing for lots of new fossil gas plants to serve them. And while tech companies have made strong progress on building renewables to match data centers, grid constraints are making it harder. We have a very small window to fully decarbonize the grid – this may make it harder to squeeze through it.

So, are growing concerns over AI’s power demand justified? How are they contributing to America’s growing hunger for electricity? And what technologies and grid management techniques can address it? 

This week, we’ve assembled a group of experts to answer those questions: Brian Janous, co-founder of Cloverleaf Infrastructure; Michelle Solomon, senior policy analyst at Energy Innovation; and John Belizaire, CEO of data center developer Soluna.

This conversation was part of Latitude Media’s Transition-AI series. Watch the full event here.

Utility rates could make or break the energy transition – so how do we do it right? On June 13th, Latitude Media and GridX are hosting a Frontier Forum to examine the imperative of good rate design, and the consequences of getting it wrong. Register here.

And make sure to listen to our new podcast, Political Climate – an insider’s view on the most pressing policy questions in energy and climate. Tune in every other Friday for the latest takes from hosts Julia Pyper, Emily Domenech, and Brandon Hurlbut. Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.