Artificial intelligence demands a lot of energy to run. For its computing output, AI consumes electricity like the Cookie Monster devouring a bag of chocolate chip cookies.
For example, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Mayor Patrick Collins recently announced a joint venture deal the city inked between energy company Tallgrass and AI developer Crusoe to build a data center.
The AI data center will initially require 1.8 gigawatts, consuming 15.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually to operate, with plans to eventually expand to a full 10 gigawatts, which would consume 87.6 TWh annually.
To put that in perspective, the initial phase of 15.8 TWH in electricity is more than five times the total use of every single household in the entire state combined. Furthermore, the eventual planned complete consumption rate of 87.6 TWh annually is more than double the power the entire state currently generates.
Included in the plans for the AI data center is that it will generate its own electricity, as it would be absolutely unfeasible for the state and its residents otherwise. The plan is that the data center will generate this electricity via a combination of gas-powered and renewable energy sources.
Wyoming has become a hub for AI data development because of the state’s high energy production, as the state currently sells roughly 60% of the energy it generates to other states. Indeed, the state is the third-biggest net energy-producing state, due primarily to its low population, resulting in a low consumption rate.
But Wyoming is not the only state with data centers that are increasingly raising the demand for electricity. At least 13 other states are seeing an increase in electricity demand due to data centers. And when demand for a finite resource increases, the cost of said resource grows. It’s the law of supply and demand.
Thus, people living in these 13 states can expect to see their electric bills increase. These states include Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.
The trouble is, the green energy or renewables that the climate change lobby continually touts as the means to fight global warming, not only cost more to produce electricity when compared to fossil fuel-powered plants, but more significantly, their energy production only makes up a small percentage of overall energy generation in the U.S.
Obviously, the future will require significantly increased energy production to power the Cookie Monster of AI data centers. Far from eliminating fossil fuels, the reality is that energy production in the U.S. must adopt an all-of-the-above approach, with a particular emphasis on a substantial expansion of nuclear power.
Low energy prices are essential for maintaining and expanding economies. America’s energy demand will only continue to increase, likely more rapidly than in the past, due to the growing power consumption demands from the developing AI industry. And the practical reality is that renewables are not capable of sustaining the nation’s current power demands, let alone a future run by AI.
