Data Centers Might Break the Grid? Good, Something Needs To |
Photograph Source: 123net – CC BY-SA 3.0
A quick headline roundup from the last couple of weeks:
“US Electric Grid Heading Toward ‘Crisis’ Thanks to AI Data Centers” (Common Dreams, January 2)
“US electricity grid stretches thin as data centers rush to turn on onsite generators” (tom’s HARDWARE, January 5)
“America’s Biggest Power Grid Operator Has an AI Problem — Too Many Data Centers” (Wall Street Journal, January 12)
Panicky political proposals to address the looming specter of grid failure under the strain of powering massive computer facilities, which in turn power massive artificial intelligence operations, range from charging data centers higher rates per kilowatt-hour to just plain banning the installations.
The only instance of helpful innovation I’m seeing from the political establishment comes from US Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) who, Reason’s Joe Lancaster reports, wants to exempt “in-house” utilities from federal regulatory red tape through legislation called the DATA Act.
Simply put, if Meta or Microsoft wanted to build their own........