--- title: "Coal Plants Staying Online Because AI Needs So Much Power" description: "These data centers are even more power hungry than traditional ones, and as every tech company pivots to AI, the energy demand steepens." date: "2024-02-03" modified: "2024-02-03" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/coal-plants-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "energy" - "generative ai" - "renewable energy" - "the digest" --- # Coal Plants Staying Online Because AI Needs So Much Power ![These data centers are even more power hungry than traditional ones, and as every tech company pivots to AI, the energy demand steepens.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Old King Coal The booming AI industry is putting a massive strain on the US's aging electricity grid as energy companies struggle to power the massive data centers that the technology requires, [*Bloomberg* reports](). In fact, the situation is already dire enough that coal plants once set for retirement are being kept online as a stopgap measure with more set to follow, highlighting [AI's worrying environmental footprint]() that can sometimes go overlooked. "We do need way more energy in the world than we thought we needed before," Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-creator OpenAI, said at the World Economic Forum last week, as quoted by *Bloomberg*. "We still don't appreciate the energy needs of this technology." ## Centers Cannot Hold AI data centers are different from traditional ones, which are already formidable energy hogs, because they're stacked with specialized graphics processing units that perform more demanding tasks than typical computer chips. Meta, formerly Facebook, [itself heavily invested in AI](), is building one such data center in Kansas City. Perhaps not coincidentally, the energy company that services the area, Evergy, announced in June that it was delaying the retirement of a coal plant by five years to 2028, according to *Bloomberg*. Elsewhere, in an area of Northern Virginia aptly known as "data center alley," local provider Dominion Energy was forced to temporarily pause new data center connections in 2022. It reportedly warned the data center company Digital Realty of a possible "pinch point" that could prevent new projects until 2026. A Dominion representative, however, told *Bloomberg* that this was inaccurate and that the pause only lasted a few months. Still, what is a matter of record is that Dominion is also considering keeping a coal plant online along with several natural gas ones to service the area, *Bloomberg* noted — despite having a massive wind farm in the works. ## Gridlocked Nationwide, the AI industry's energy demand seems even more fearsome. According to an [analysis from Boston Consulting Group]() cited by *Bloomberg*, the electricity consumption at US data centers alone is expected to triple from 2022 levels by the end of the decade. In the analysis's summary, that's equal to the electricity used by about a third of the total homes in the US, and about 7.5 percent of the entire country's projected energy demand. Although renewables could step in to ease the burden, some experts say that the energy grid remains a frustrating bottleneck because there aren't enough transmission lines to connect wind and solar farms. "The worst-case scenario is utilities don't adapt and keep old fossil-fuel capacity online and they don't evolve past that," Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, told *Bloomberg*. If those energy issues aren't ironed out, the AI industry's own [seemingly waning hype]() could be one form of relief. The technology is undeniably power hungry, but its prevalence could be overstated. **More on AI:** *[AI Companies Lose $190 Billion After Dismal Financial Reports]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()