America’s Electricity Boom Is Outrunning Its Power Grid
Now It May Help Break It Apart Haley Zaremba is an energy journalist and researcher with more than a decade of professional experience covering global energy systems, land and natural resources, and… The United States’ energy grid is under extreme duress as rapid electrification and energy demand place increasing and unprecedented demand on transmission infrastructure.
The artificial intelligence boom is sending energy demand rates into the stratosphere as hyperscalers race to develop energy-hungry data center campuses across the country.
At the same time, clean energy campaigns and the renewable energy transition are increasingly electrifying our lives, from electric vehicles to heating and cooling systems.
An official assessment published in January by theNorth American Electric Reliability Corporation(NERC) found that 60 percent of grid regions in the United States (nine out of 15) are at ‘elevated’ or ‘high’ risk of falling short of energy demand as soon as 2030.
High risk indicates that demand will soon outstrip supply in that region in a business-as-usual scenario.
Elevated risk means that while resources are adequate, there could be critical shortfalls during extreme weather events.
Some of the country’s most populous areas, including New York and Pennsylvania, are served by these at-risk grids.
This poses a major and urgent problem for the nation’s energy security.
“In the short term, that imbalance can mean sending more power down transmission lines than they are rated to carry, risking equipment failure,” states a recentreportfrom Atmos.
“Over time, it can cause power outages, especially during periods of peak demand.” This is not just a major threat to energy security and to the economy; it’s a matter of life and death.
Periods of peak demand are generally caused by extreme weather events, in which people need heating or cooling as a matter of necessity rather than mere comfort.
Nearly half a million people in the world died of heat every year between 2000 and 2019, according to astudyfrom prestigious medical journal The Lancet, published in February of this year.
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