US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has revealed that President Joe Biden's administration is talking to major technology companies to invest in climate-friendly power generation to meet their growing demand.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating electricity demand, with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) predicting that data centers will account for the total electricity generated in the United States. will take 9 percent share. decade, currently up from ~1.5%, As reported by Scientific American.
For the first time in decades, U.S. electricity demand is projected to grow by 15 percent over the next decade, a trend that could complicate Biden's goal of decarbonizing the power sector by 2035.
“We are talking to data companies. The big ones have a commitment to net zero and want to see clean baseload power. If tech companies are coming in and taking clean power off the grid, they should bring power with them. And so there are a lot of conversations going on right now between tech companies and utilities, tech companies and nuclear companies,Greenholm told Reuters in an interview.
Last month, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the first major electric transmission policy update in more than a decade to speed up new interregional lines to help the grid cope with rocketing demand. could The new rule marks FERC's first update on long-term transmission planning that will go a long way toward helping the Biden administration achieve its ambitious goal of producing 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. .
To meet this ambitious goal, the U.S. needs to more than quintuple interregional transmission capacity and double regional transmission capacity, a U.S. Department of Energy study revealed in November.
“This rule cannot come fast enough.” FERC Chairman Willie Phillips, who voted in favor of the final rule, told Reuters. “There is an urgent need to act to ensure the reliability and affordability of our grid. We are at a transformative moment for the electric grid with unprecedented load growth.” He added, the proliferation of data centers, increase in domestic manufacturing and increase in extreme weather events.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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