Above, former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt has some sobering news about the energy demands of AI, and the urgency to stay ahead of China in this race.
29 Gigawatts by 2027, 67 more GW by 2030.
I don’t want to live in a world where China dominates in AI. We have to find a way to site necessary infrastructure in a way that supports the grid and keeps rates manageable. I worry that opportunistic politicians on both the left and right are seizing on this issue, amplifying misinformation rather than seeking solutions.
Below, example of the challenge – Illinois state agencies have warned about increasing Data center demands.
Graphic here illustrates the increased demand of individual AI racks vs older data centers. Huge uptick in power demand and (mostly wasted) heat.
Recent research indicates that demand growth by itself is not always associated with higher rates. Some states where demand is static or decreasing have had some of the most dramatic rate increases.
California would be an example, where rates have been impacted by massive, necessary upgrades to transmission, needed to prevent outages and wildfire, as increasingly severe weather events batter infrastructure, much of which necessarily traverses rugged and remote terrain.
On the other end, North Dakota has seen an almost 40 percent growth in demand in recent years, much of it from Data Centers, but has actually lowered rates. Among other strategies, North Dakota has expanded wind and particularly solar energy, while scaling back coal.
Yeah – also on CBS – “Watchdog group seeks more regulation of data centers as electric bills rise”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaP96NkDB30
Along with regulating the data centers for power demand (and quality issues from spikes), water is becoming a problem in the populated areas just away from Lake Michigan, as groundwater depletion is already leading to problems in many communities, and increasing attempts to drop a straw into Lake Michigan. So data centers will run into issues with that in the outer rings of the Chicago region. Heck, Chicago technically is not part of the Great Lakes watershed except for a narrow strip along the shore, and the Great Lakes Compact is multi-member of the bordering states and Canadian provinces has Views about exporting water. Not as extreme as what will happen sooner with the Colorado water agreements, but non-trivial.
As to electricity, the idea of buying power from elsewhere is something that should be boosted, and it seems the Grain Belt Express is going forward, and it seems that the Soo Green Line is still alive, too. So HVDC allowing power to flow from windfarms in the MISO states west of us should be a no-brainer.
https://sentinelksmo.org/grain-belt-express-moves-forward/
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/soo-green-transmission-iowa-illinois-pjm-miso/761080/