Aging Power Grids Overwhelmed by Surging Electricity Demand, Threatening Economic Growth
-
Demand for electricity is surging to unprecedented levels across the U.S. due to data centers, crypto mining, and clean tech manufacturing, threatening to overwhelm aging power grids.
-
Utilities and regulators failed to accurately forecast the explosion in electricity demand, leaving grids unprepared to meet needs.
-
Bottlenecks and electricity shortages are mounting, causing some economic development opportunities to be missed and renewable energy growth to slow.
-
Companies like Microsoft and Google are increasingly looking to off-grid power sources like small nuclear reactors and fusion to supply their massive data centers.
-
Upgrading transmission infrastructure is slow, political, and often bogged down at the state level, risking climate goals and U.S. competitiveness if not accelerated.