U.S. Utilities Warn of Impending Power Crisis Due to Surging Data Center Demand

U.S. utilities warn of a looming power crisis. Electricity demand, stagnant for over a decade, is set to surge by 2030. Driven by AI, chip manufacturing, and electric vehicles, this spike threatens economic stability.

Data centers alone will add 290 terawatt hours to U.S. power needs. This is equivalent to Turkey's entire electricity consumption. Tech giants like Amazon and Google are racing to secure power for new data centers, some requiring as much as a gigawatt—the output of a nuclear reactor.

NextEra Energy, the nation's largest renewable power company, forecasts a 38% rise in U.S. power demand by 2040. They plan to meet this with renewables and battery storage. Southern Company, another major utility, also sees historic demand growth, driven by data centers and population expansion.

Both companies emphasize the need for a balanced energy mix. While renewables are crucial, nuclear and natural gas will play key roles in ensuring reliability. The message is clear: to sustain economic growth, the U.S. must get its energy strategy right.