AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution.
he mighty Columbia River has helped power the American West with hydroelectricity since the days of FDR’s New Deal. But the artificial intelligence revolution will demand more. Much more.
So near the river’s banks in central Washington, Microsoft is betting on an effort to generate power from atomic fusion — the collision of atoms that powers the sun — a breakthrough that has eluded scientists for the past century. Physicists predict it will elude Microsoft, too.
The tech giant and its partners say they expect to harness fusion by 2028, an audacious claim that bolsters their promises to transition to green energy but distracts from current reality. In fact, the voracious electricity consumption of artificial intelligence is driving an expansion of fossil fuel use — including delaying the retirement of some coal-fired plants.
In the face of this dilemma, Big Tech is going all-in on experimental clean energy projects that have long odds of success anytime soon. In addition to fusion, tech giants are hoping to generate power through such futuristic schemes as small nuclear reactors hooked to individual computing centers and machinery that taps geothermal energy by boring 10,000 feet into the Earth’s crust.
The Washington Post
By Evan Halper and Caroline O’Donovan
June 21, 2024
The mighty Columbia River has helped power the American West with hydroelectricity since the days of FDR’s New Deal. But the artificial intelligence revolution will demand more. Much more.
So near the river’s banks in central Washington, Microsoft is betting on an effort to generate power from atomic fusion — the collision of atoms that powers the sun — a breakthrough that has eluded scientists for the past century. Physicists predict it will elude Microsoft, too.
The tech giant and its partners say they expect to harness fusion by 2028, an audacious claim that bolsters their promises to transition to green energy but distracts from current reality. In fact, the voracious electricity consumption of artificial intelligence is driving an expansion of fossil fuel use — including delaying the retirement of some coal-fired plants.
In the face of this dilemma, Big Tech is going all-in on experimental clean energy projects that have long odds of success anytime soon. In addition to fusion, tech giants are hoping to generate power through such futuristic schemes as small nuclear reactors hooked to individual computing centers and machinery that taps geothermal energy by boring 10,000 feet into the Earth’s crust.
Read the full article.
The nation’s power grid is overwhelmed. New rules aim to boost construction.
Sweeping changes to the way long-distance power lines are planned and built were approved by federal regulators Monday, as they try to revitalize an overwhelmed electricity grid that is ill equipped to handle soaring demand.
The reforms, approved 2-1 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with its lone Republican dissenting, come as fraying transmission infrastructure is undermining the economy in some regions and leaving large swaths of the country experiencing routine power shortages. Called the power grid, this network of wires and transfer stations also is not keeping pace with growth in solar and wind power, experts say.
The Washington Post
By Evan Halper
May 13, 2024
Sweeping changes to the way long-distance power lines are planned and built were approved by federal regulators Monday, as they try to revitalize an overwhelmed electricity grid that is ill equipped to handle soaring demand.
The reforms, approved 2-1 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with its lone Republican dissenting, come as fraying transmission infrastructure is undermining the economy in some regions and leaving large swaths of the country experiencing routine power shortages. Called the power grid, this network of wires and transfer stations also is not keeping pace with growth in solar and wind power, experts say.
Read The Full Article.
Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power
Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid.
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.
The Washington Post
By Evan Halper
March 7, 2024
Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid.
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.
Read the full article.