AI Firms May Not Need Our Electricity

By Douglas McIntyre  •  October 16, 2025
Pixabay Pexels

AI firms have faced the challenge of how to power their data centers. One way, they have discovered, is to bring their own and stay off the grid.

To stay off the grid, data centers would have to generate huge amounts of electricity locally, and without help from utilities.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “With the push for AI dominance at warp speed, the ‘Bring Your Own Power’ boom is a quick fix for the gridlock of trying to get on the grid.”

AI companies claim that they are not energy companies, but they have decided that they need to be both. Many data centers have begun building their own grids. Given their desperate situations, it appears they do not care whether the energy is green or not, as long as it is available. 

Who Wants Equipment?

The unities have two challenges. One is money, and the other is equipment availability. They now have to compete with AI companies, which are building their own power plants. It is a set of dominoes. AI companies want utilities to build more electricity capacity. The components for this capacity are being bought by these same AI companies, who don’t want to wait for these utilities. The competition for physical infrastructure components will be huge. 

Competition means higher prices. Utilities will face the need to spend more on equipment. Residential customers will probably see their rates rise to fund this. But instead of AI server farms sucking up electricity, they will be sucking up the equipment that generates it. Either way, the consumer pays.

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