Steel yourselves for this stat: AI Uses Twice the Electricity consumed by Pittsburgh

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According to a CNBC analysis, electric-hungry AI data centers could soon require more electricity than some cities. Its primary example is electricity use, which is double that of Pittsburgh, which has about 700,000 residents.

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Draining The Grid
New York Energy Trouble

Companies that will rely on much, if not all, of their revenue from AI, have been trying to solve the electricity supply problem for over a year. Recently, Microsoft set a deal to reopen part of Three Mile Island, the nuclear facility that had a partial meltdown in 1979.

Amazon has begun partnerships with Dominion Energy Virginia, Energy Northwest, and Talen Energy to find nuclear solutions. Amazon’s initial investment will be be $500 million. AWS bought a $650 million

Privately held OpenAI has asked the U.S. government to approve data centers nationwide. According to Bloomberg, “Following a recent meeting at the White House, which was attended by OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and other tech leaders, the startup shared a document with government officials outlining the economic and national security benefits of building 5-gigawatt data centers in various US states, based on an analysis the company engaged with outside experts on.”

Japan And Energy
According to researchers at Yale, “Data centers’ electricity consumption in 2026 is projected to reach 1,000 terawatts, roughly Japan’s total consumption.”

There is not, nor will there be, enough electricity in the near future to power AI servers. That means a battle among residential, business, and AI customers. Who decides the winner will probably be based on money and the government.