XPost: alt.energy.renewable, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: info@alphabet.com   
      
   Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly said the   
   revised forecast for power needs in Georgia showed power use in the state   
   increasing 17 times. New demand, not total demand, is projected to   
   increase 17 times. The article also misspelled the name of the agency that   
   advocates for Maryland ratepayers. It is the Maryland Office of People’s   
   Counsel. The article has been corrected.   
      
   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.   
      
   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.   
      
   The soaring demand is touching off a scramble to try to squeeze more juice   
   out of an aging power grid while pushing commercial customers to go to   
   extraordinary lengths to lock down energy sources, such as building their   
   own power plants.   
      
   “When you look at the numbers, it is staggering,” said Jason Shaw,   
   chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates   
   electricity. “It makes you scratch your head and wonder how we ended up in   
   this situation. How were the projections that far off? This has created a   
   challenge like we have never seen before.”   
      
   A major factor behind the skyrocketing demand is the rapid innovation in   
   artificial intelligence, which is driving the construction of large   
   warehouses of computing infrastructure that require exponentially more   
   power than traditional data centers. AI is also part of a huge scale-up of   
   cloud computing. Tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft   
   are scouring the nation for sites for new data centers, and many lesser-   
   known firms are also on the hunt.   
      
   The proliferation of crypto-mining, in which currencies like bitcoin are   
   transacted and minted, is also driving data center growth. It is all   
   putting new pressures on an overtaxed grid - the network of transmission   
   lines and power stations that move electricity around the country.   
   Bottlenecks are mounting, leaving both new generators of energy,   
   particularly clean energy, and large consumers facing growing wait times   
   for hookups.   
      
   The situation is sparking battles across the nation over who will pay for   
   new power supplies, with regulators worrying that residential ratepayers   
   could be stuck with the bill for costly upgrades. It also threatens to   
   stifle the transition to cleaner energy, as utility executives lobby to   
   delay the retirement of fossil fuel plants and bring more online. The   
   power crunch imperils their ability to supply the energy that will be   
   needed to charge the millions of electric cars and household appliances   
   required to meet state and federal climate goals.   
      
   The nation’s 2,700 data centers sapped more than 4 percent of the   
   country’s total electricity in 2022, according to the International Energy   
   Agency. Its projections show that by 2026, they will consume 6 percent.   
   Industry forecasts show the centers eating up a larger share of U.S.   
   electricity in the years that follow, as demand from residential and   
   smaller commercial facilities stays relatively flat thanks to steadily   
   increasing efficiencies in appliances and heating and cooling systems.   
      
   Data center operators are clamoring to hook up to regional electricity   
   grids at the same time the Biden administration’s industrial policy is   
   luring companies to build factories in the United States at a pace not   
   seen in decades. That includes manufacturers of “clean tech,” such as   
   solar panels and electric car batteries, which are being enticed by   
   lucrative federal incentives. Companies announced plans to build or expand   
   more than 155 factories in this country during the first half of the Biden   
      
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