\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1191462444-e1711139920913.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
After being flat for nearly two decades, demand for power in the U.S. is soaring. A recent report by Grid Strategies<\/a>, a power sector consulting company, estimated that yearly electricity demand is set to grow by 0.9%, while the capacity added to the grid is planned to increase by just 0.5%.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the cause of this crunch? First, a boom in domestic industry, and growing need for AI-driven computing power which is projected to increase the amount of data centers across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n But there are a few lesser-known factors that could push America\u2019s grid over the edge. The AI boom, the ongoing popularity of crypto mining, and legalized marijuana are all adding potential strain to the grid at a time when extreme weather is making it more vulnerable.<\/p>\n Data centers\u2014essential for cloud computing\u2014today make up about 2.5% of the nation\u2019s energy consumption. By the end of the decade, their power use is expected to triple<\/a>, according to Boston Consulting Group<\/a>, boosted by the growth in AI applications as well as cryptocurrency mines. The International Energy Agency had a similar take<\/a>, projecting that data centers\u2019 power demands would double between 2023 and 2026. In the U.S., the growth in data centers is responsible for one-third of the added demand in that time period. PJM, an interconnection utility that covers parts of 13 states, from Ohio to Virgiania, has \u201cobserved unprecedented data center load growth,\u201d according to Grid Strategies. Virginia contains the U.S.\u2019 largest concentration of data centers, with Loudoun County nicknamed \u201cData Center Alley<\/a>.,\u201d The state\u2019s utility, Dominion Energy<\/a>, has delayed or turned away centers saying it can\u2019t meet power demand<\/a>, according to industry publication Data Center Dynamics<\/em>.<\/p>\n AI and crypto are both energy-intensive activities. Training an AI model on terabytes of data as well as feeding it prompts are data-dense processes that use much more power than, say, an equivalent Google<\/a> search. One study in Joule<\/em><\/a> projected that, globally, AI applications could use as much power as the entire nation of the Netherlands by 2027.<\/p>\n Crypto is a power hog for a similar reason. Miners compete to be the first to solve complex problems that are rewarded with crypto; because the chances of solving it first are infinitesimally small, miners have an advantage by using more and faster computers, which translates into intense energy demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is just a matter of luck,\u201d Samantha Robertson, a member of the strategy team at the Bitcoin company Bitdeer, told the Texas Tribune. <\/em>\u201cIn order to increase your chances, it makes sense to have these computers running at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n Nationwide, crypto mining claims as much as 2.3% of America\u2019s energy use, according to the Energy Information Administration<\/a>. In Texas, a popular destination for crypto mining operations, miners have requested the equivalent of 41 new nuclear reactors\u2019 worth of power, according to the Guardian<\/em><\/a>. Texas\u2019 grid \u201chas experienced continued rapid load growth\u201d since last summer, according to Grid Strategies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s another burgeoning, power-hungry industry: Marijuana. The rapid decriminalization and legalization of the drug, not to mention younger Americans\u2019 preference for bud over booze, has created tremendous growth in the weed market. Half of U.S. states now have some form of legal cannabis, either recreational or medical, and all that weed needs to be grown somewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n And growing the plant, it turns out, is an electricity-intensive undertaking. Cannabis plants demand lighting as intense as you\u2019d see in a hospital operating room<\/a>, fans for air circulation, and frequent temperature changes. More than a decade ago, the National Conference of State Legislatures estimated that the marijuana industry used about 1% of the nation\u2019s electricity. Today that number is surely larger based on its explosive popularity. In Massachusetts, marijuana today accounts for 10% of the state\u2019s indoor energy use; in Colorado, one of the first states to legalize weed in 2014, it now emits as much carbon as mining, according to a letter from two members of Congress to the Energy Department<\/a>, who wrote with concerns about the \u201cindustry\u2019s rapidly growing demands on our country\u2019s energy systems.\u201d\u00a0\n
All this means that, after decades of America\u2019s electricity demands being flat\u2014thanks to economic shifts and more efficient power generation\u2014it\u2019s set to boom again. And the nation\u2019s regulators may not be prepared. The nonprofit North American Energy Reliability Council recently said that energy demand was \u201crising faster than at any time in the past five or more years,\u201d and estimated<\/a> that 13 of the continent\u2019s 20 power interconnection areas are at risk of a power shortfall this summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to Impact Report, a weekly newsletter on the trends and issues shaping corporate sustainability. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n