The AI surge is exposing an old truth: electricity is the master resource. Data‑center power demand is projected to more than double globally by 2030. In the United States, the interconnection queue is now so large that both new generation and large loads face multi‑year delays. Unless utilities, grid operators, and hyperscalers strike the right deals, AI capacity will keep outrunning electrons—and public patience.
Start with a simple rule: buy electrons before bytes. Match each gigawatt of new data‑center load to contracted, firm low‑carbon generation (nuclear, hydro, geothermal, gas with CCS where credible) plus storage and specific transmission upgrades. Put these commitments in public, milestone‑based contracts. If the power doesn’t show up on schedule, the load waits. Negotiate water honestly: avoid evaporative cooling in arid regions; everywhere, publish water‑use metrics and site accordingly.
Cities can turn “waste” into an asset. Data‑center heat is already warming homes at scale in Finland, where Fortum and Microsoft are connecting new facilities into the Helsinki‑region district‑heating network.
The hardware is straightforward—industrial heat pumps and large‑diameter pipes. The hard part is governance: contracts, tariffs, and interconnection timelines that align incentives across utilities, municipalities, and cloud buyers.
Next, design internal efficiency gates that executives and regulators can verify. Measure energy per unit of useful work: megawatt‑hours per billion tokens for training; megawatt‑hours per million inferences for operations. Publish PUE and WUE, plus siting rationales and heat‑reuse metrics. Route workloads to the cheapest model that meets quality and risk thresholds. New accelerator generations deliver large gains in performance per watt; lock those savings in rather than chasing square footage.
Finally, widen access to compute without widening the footprint. Public‑interest compute programs can steer demand to the most efficient capacity while seeding skilled talent. The U.S. is standing up a National AI Research Resource Operations Center to coordinate shared resources. Pair efforts like that with “compute passes” redeemable across clusters and clouds, clear eligibility, and quarterly dashboards that report energy, water, and outcomes. That transparency earns the public’s trust.
For utilities, this is a growth story if done right. Long‑term virtual PPAs, storage adders, and targeted transmission upgrades can underwrite new clean capacity with predictable offtake. For operators, it’s a risk‑reduction story: fewer permitting fights, fewer headlines about strained substations, more projects that quietly work. And for communities, it’s tangible benefits—lower heating emissions, industrial jobs, and reliable power.
Electrons are the rate‑limiting step for AI. If we align contracts, metrics, and siting with that fact, we can scale compute without crashing the grid—and bring the public along.
Theodor Engøy is an independent writer based in Ås, Norway, focused on the intersection of AI, energy, and infrastructure. He has no financial relationships with entities cited and is not being compensated for this submission.
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
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It was said before the AI boom began that we couldn’t possibly electrify everything as the alarmists were wont to demand and now that pales into insignificance.
Before we buy any [in our case hugely expensive] electrons we need to sort the mess out…
Future of Ovo Energy in doubt after failing financial stress tests
Ovo Energy has cast doubt on its future as one of Great Britain’s largest domestic gas and electricity suppliers after failing to meet the regulator’s financial standards.
…
Ovo, which supplies about 4m homes, is one of three suppliers that have failed to meet new financial resilience standards put in place after the energy crisis caused dozens of firms to collapse. The Guardian
Then you have to factor in the A list lunatics whose fame and wealth obviously make them more than qualified to tell the oiks how things really are.
Hugh Grant Teams Up With Climate Activists – Daily Sceptic
Only in this case it’s about muzzling the press.
Hugh Grant was among the campaigners outside the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool on Monday afternoon.
He carried a sign reading ‘Britain deserves a better press,’ and smiled for a promotional shot – Metro
And each day Miliband adds to the mess. Interestingly the media, bar GBNews, blanks Kathryn Porter completely. As I said, before we buy any [in our case hugely expensive] electrons we need to sort the mess out… That will take time.
Something meets give.
Or divine retribution…
Grant picked up sex worker Divine Brown on Holywood’s Sunset Strip and had sex with her in his car. It was reported that he was arrested for “lewd conduct in a public place.” In a statement after the fact, Grant said, “Last night I did something completely insane. I’ve hurt people I love and embarrassed people I work with. For both things, I’m more sorry than I can ever possibly say.”
https://www.thelist.com/1742337/hugh-grant-arrested-90s/
He had three things to be sorry for and managed to recognise two.
(Also, CV watch: English literature, Oxford)
She’s written a couple of pieces in the UK Telegraph recently.
Major traction? I’d say not. Because the real power to get any message across is the BBC followed by C4 and ITV
Thankfully, Talk TV give her a platform too. This just today:
The proposed restriction to “low carbon” generation is pure green nonsense.
Good point.
“gas with CCS where credible”
There is no credible hard-money benefit anywhere from CCS as a “climate” mitigation.
Alternatively, we could all promise to use fewer candles on our birthday cakes.
“Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner”
I imagine it’s a video of a cute kid blowing out birthday candles.
If you click on it, you see a grandma trying to blow out ~50 candles. She’s lucky she didn’t hyper-ventilate and fall face first into the cake!
Yikes!
CCS, PUE, WUE & PPAs, are exactly what?
Carbon Capture & Storage
Power Usage Effectiveness
Water Usage Effectiveness
Power Purchase Agreement
I think….
Thanks for “Thinking” (-:
Sequestering CO2 is entirely without merit.
It’s what keeps me sane.
The other three are dubious because of the amount of work required to calculate it all – for the sake of the very few that give a….
“Electrons are the rate‑limiting step for AI.”
Dollars are the rate-limiting step for AI. Dollars to build the necessary compute and dollars to build the necessary power sources.
Almost every atom has electrons. There is no shortage of electrons. Electrons are not energy.
I was thinking exactly what “Petey Bird” wrote. Too much use of buzz-wordy literary devices by the author that will frustrate literalists. I understand the conservative literal take is part of what drives good writers toward liberal politics, but in this case: Are electrons a step to anything? Not without a paragraph or two of context to explain.
Hunter S Thompson was getting at the writer/reader issue in Naked Lunch with his factualists and liquifactionists, but as a factualist I couldn’t make it to the end.
This is insane. Just burn coal. USA has plenty beautiful clean coal ready to burn. Do not leave China and India doing all the heavy lifting on greening the planet. NetZero is dead. How about 2100ppm by 2100.
If 2100ppm by 2100 was achieved, the productivity of biomass would be so high that forests could be harvested again for their fuel. A truly virtuous and sustainable cycle with just enough coal combustion to make up for losses to coral production. The additional biomass and associate tempering of the annual weather cycle might just prevent the next cycle of glaciation.
Carbon Dioxide has been increasing over the last ~60 years at a rate of about 1.8 per year. Continuing like that will get to just over 560 by 2100. The 560 ppm is about half of the “best for” plant growth. I don’t think people, climate, or weather will notice, but plant growth will be marginally better.
I fired up my wood stove the past two mornings, so I’m doing my part.
“gas with CCS where credible”
Incredible. CCS reduces output of a plant by 25% at least. So we will just burn more natural gas and stuff what could have been useful work in the Earth someplace, or the ocean. Wanton waste of availability is an engineering mortal sin, compounded in this case by using the highest value fuel (natural gas) in the sinning.
Is it not a better idea to make the provision of power for AI data centres to be the full responsibility of the AI data centre for finance (capital and expense) and operation? Why does the “grid” have to be involved–other than perhaps to provide backup power in times of need, say replacing batteries [sic] or other? This is not unlike other energy-dependant industries.
It’s not down to consumers and/or government to subsidise power for AI data centres.
Shouldn’t that apply to everyone and everything that uses electrical power?
If it applies to electricity, shouldn’t it apply to natural gas, water, gas/diesel for your vehicles, and food, can’t forget food.
No, I don’t think so, but I can see how some would think that. It’s not unusual for large industrial users of electricity to provide their own power plant–for various reasons, including reliability, cost, schedule, etc.
My observation and concern is that adding significant power generation facilities (generators, grid changes, etc.) to benefit AI data centres will result in costs being spread across all customers, including retail consumers. Like to think that won’t happen, but it probably will.
No, I don’t think so, but I can see how some would think that. It’s not unusual for large industrial users of electricity to provide their own power plant–for various reasons, including reliability, cost, schedule, etc.
My observation and concern is that adding significant incremental power generation facilities (generators, grid changes, etc.) to benefit AI data centres will result in costs being spread across all customers, including retail consumers. Like to think that won’t happen, but it probably will.
Not necessarily. Transmission costs, for example, are typically allocated on the basis of coincidental peak (CP) load. In this case, an AI center co-located with a large base load generator (e.g., a nuke) wouldn’t require much additional transmission infrastructure, but because of its large contribution to CP load, might even lessen these costs to the other loads. There’s also the possibility that such a base load generator, if adversely affected by the intermittence of ‘renewables’, might operate more efficiently if an AI center reduced the magnitude of curtailment payments.
The same argument can be made for every consumer of electricity, no matter how small. Each one requires a marginal increase in production capacity and transmission capacity. Why single AI centers for unique treatment?
The “grid” likes to forecast future use as part of planning how and how much to make. The forecast is rarely accurate, but it’s nice to know when rain might be coming.
Electrical energy is not electrons. Carbon is not CO2.
“electricity is the master resource”
Is electricity best described as a resource?
I think of electricity as a way to transport a resource (eg FF) to where it’s wanted.
Electricity really is its own “resource” as it has higher utility than any fossil fuel. It represents an upgrade in utility of the fossil fuel.
For example, refrigeration and air conditioning (AC as opposed to heating), and small motors are all far easier to construct to work on electricity than would be so using fossil fuels directly. Refrigeration using a fossil fuel directly, such as done with an absorption cycle driven by natural gas or propane flame, has very poor coefficient of performance (COP) compared to a refrigerator running from a compressor driven with an electric motor.
Ask 100 people if electricity is energy and 99 will say yes. WRONG. energy is from something else. We use the term ‘electricity generstor’. WRONG. It should be electricity converter. The actual energy comes from something else. Until the 99 understand this we are doomed to be ruled by egocentric zealots.
PS, absorption fridges have some advantages.
PPS. AI uses electricity very badly, since most of its output is heat and very little as intelligence.
That’s the problem with those infected by “green” ideology. They confuse energy sources, energy sinks, and energy transport mechanisms.
Front and center example – their belief that hydrogen is an energy source.
(Maybe I have to qualify that with ‘here on Earth’ so I don’t get a gotcha about stars)
I am not concerned about carbon.
I’m not concerned about carbon, either. I am concerned about carbon dioxide in an enclosed space. Outside, I’m concerned we are still too close to the lower limit of how much CO2 is required for healthy plant life.
I am concerned about carbon monoxide in closed space.
Some valid points to consider in the article.
However, the language and style detract seriously from those points.
For one thing it uses too much of the “Climate Liars” vocabulary.
For another, it misses on fundamental engineering and science principles.
So, focus on the major point. AI centers need to evolve their power sources prior to evolving their server farms and pay for it in advance so to not impact the public.
One does not construct a cruise liner in the middle of the desert then expect someone else to bring the ocean to it.
Even homeowners in rural areas have to be concerned about that. To get electricity to my property edge in Reno, Nevada cost me $45k in 2017. Then I still needed to string power from the property edge over rough terrain another 3/4 of a mile – $65k. If someone had bought one or both of the two nearby properties within five years, I would have gotten $15K back for each. Didn’t happen.
Other neighbors in the area use solar, wind, lead acid batteries – and diesel generators to keep the AC on in the summer and keep the cisterns full year-round.
Nevada Energy nor their customers subsidized me. I don’t see why a data center would be subsidized unless the community wanted the extra high paying jobs.
America is turning a new page with AI. It’s time to react before it’s too late and we have to suffer the consequences. We are blessed to live in a country that has so much natural gas so we will be able to generate the electricity needed to power all these AI Centers, but lets not waste all that natural gas. America has been combusting natural gas in power plants for decades. These power plants do what they were designed to do ~ produce electricity, but how many people realize that approximately 50% of the natural gas energy that is combusted is vented up the chimney’s into the atmosphere. That’s a lot of wasted energy! Waste Is Not Waste If It Has A Purpose.
Now with AI, America’s electricity production is going to double or more over the next few years.
President Trump created DOGE to reduce Waste. It’s time we include Natural Gas Waste to that list. Natural gas is an energy that can be consumed to near 100% energy efficiency. It has been done in our residential markets for years with condensing boilers and water tanks. It’s time to take Condensing Flue Gas Heat Recovery to the Natural Gas Power Plants. These power plants can be operated to near 100% energy efficiency. The combusted exhaust can be converted into Good Paying Full Time Jobs and Money.
This is not new technology. The Sidel SRU Flue Gas Condenser was connected to large natural gas fired boilers in the early 1980’s, and a lot of these units are still in operation today.
America’s electrical grid network we know is not capable of handling all this new electricity as required by these AI Centers. It’s time for some serious planning. The American public does not want to pay for all these grid upgrades or for the fuel that is going to be consumed to create all this new electricity.
Who wants these AI Centers built in their neighbor hoods? Who wants big electrical power run overhead in these neighbor hoods delivering this electricity?
These are just my thoughts. We have so much open land available here in America. These AI Centers should be constructed away from these subdivisions on 1000 acres of land.
5 or 10 miles away the AI Group should be constructing a Community Power Plant sized to the AI Centers load – plus 20 or 25%. A dedicated power line can be buried from the Community Power Plant to the AI Center. In between these 2 locations a new subdivision can be constructed, complete with schools and shopping center and a hospital and a hotel.
Next to the Community Power Plant I suggest a large (25 to 50 acre) commercial greenhouse be constructed. The Waste Exhaust from the power plant will be put through a Flue Gas Condenser Unit. The flue gas condenser will capture the heat energy out of the exhaust. This recovered heat energy will be used to provide the perfect environmental conditions in the greenhouses, so that any desired crop can be grown. The cooled exhaust (CO2) will be blown into these growing areas, providing these plants being grown with CO2 Enrichment. The only thing left from the combusted exhaust is the condensation (Water) and this condensation will have nutrients added and then be used to irrigate these greenhouse crops. These greenhouses will require hundreds from the local community to be working in these greenhouses, year round.
What can’t be grown in a greenhouse in ideal climatic conditions?
Visualize this with me, and let me know what your thoughts are.
I believe ideas like this should be put in front of Secretaries Wright at the DOE and Secretary Rollins at the Department of Agriculture and Secretary Zelden at the EPA.
I look forward to your thoughts. SidAbma@gmail.com
I love the well meaning nature of this sort of article which is at odds with how it actually works. You have a constrained product (electricity) in a commercial market and the law of supply and demand kicks in the one who can pay the most gets the product. The home user only uses power to live they don’t make a profit off it so guess who is the lowest in the supply competition.
Lucky there are contracts and laws in place to stop the home consumers losing there current supply but good luck to the home consumers if they want more power 🙂
Even in backwater Australia it is expected data centre use will be 12% of the grid’s supplied electricity by 2050
Let me edit. Build new fossil fuel and nuclear generators. AI should shoulder much of the cost since they will need most of the product. Remove all wind and solar from the grid, with the new demand there is no room for intermittency. With no wind or solar there is no need for storage. There fixed it for you.
I used to think it was funny that bitcoin miners were generating something that actually has a use. But at least in Finland….
https://medium.com/@sohail_saifi/how-bitcoin-mining-is-accidentally-heating-entire-cities-523b7a2ce11f
So… all they need is lots of electricity to do all this useful work?
WUWT had an article about some Soviet city’s carbon foot print due to its “district heating”, but doubtful that many cities in the northern hemisphere use citywide hot water heating and thus have the plumbing to accommodate this plan.
It needs to be dispatchable but it need not be “low-carbon,” because “high-carbon” generation poses no problems.
Electricity is an energy carrier, not a source. let alone a resource. It is an extremely wasteful way of getting energy from A to B. Literally any other way is better in terms of efficiency.
Why the absolute worst energy carrier is so popular is beyond me.