06-02-2026DIGITAL EDGE

The AI boom is colliding with America’s aging power grid

Surging demand is overwhelming interconnection systems, forcing a scramble to modernize the grid before ratepayers absorb the cost.

[Source photos: Adobe Stock]

BY Kolawole Samuel Adebayo

PG&E entered 2026 expecting a year’s worth of new electricity demand. Barely two months later, nearly all of it was already spoken for. Interconnection requests were piling up faster than planners had expected, overwhelming a regulatory system built for an era when electricity demand barely moved.

Load growth that historically ran below 1% annually hit 4% at some grid operators last year, according to a report by........

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