- AI data centers are consuming significant power, impacting the electricity supply.
- Proximity to data centers correlated with distorted power readings, a Bloomberg analysis found.
- Big Tech companies are turning to alternative sources of energy as they build more data centers.
Data centers in the United States are consuming so much power that they may be impacting the flow of electricity to millions of Americans.
AI data centers are sprouting up across the country to meet the increased demand for AI, but they’re also sucking up the power on which millions of Americans rely.
The new tech is demanding massive amounts of energy from grids that are, in some areas, already stressed. Researchers have estimated that AI centers could need three to five times the power used by traditional facilities, Business Insider previously reported.
A Bloomberg analysis assessed readings from some 770,000 homes from February to October and found that over 75% of “highly distorted power readings across the country are within 50 miles of significant data center activity.”
Stresses on the power grid can lead to inconsistent power quality, and as the power quality decreases, the risk increases, Bloomberg reported. Inconsistent energy flow can cause electronics to overheat, leading to sparks or even house fires.
A small handful of large tech companies own the vast majority of global data centers — and they show no signs of slowing down as they pour billions into building more powerful AI models.
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft own about 65% of the cloud infrastructure market, which includes data centers, according to a 2023 report from market research firm Synergy Research Group.
Google announced in April that it’s investing $3 billion to build and expand data centers in Virginia and Indiana. The search engine giant unveiled its latest AI model, Gemini 2.0, in December.
Amazon, which is a large investor in AI startup Anthropic, is investing another $10 billion in Ohio data centers, Gov. Mike DeWine announced on December 16.
Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, said in September that the company has partnered with other investors, including BlackRock, in a $100 billion energy infrastructure project. The project will include “new and expanded data centers,” the company said.
To meet AI’s increasing energy demands, companies like Google have also started turning to nuclear power to find more reliable and sustainable energy sources.
