By Peter C. Earle Ironically, data centers are performing an extremely valuable public service: they are revealing regulatory bottlenecks that remained largely invisible while electricity demand was growing slowly.
The AI boom is pushing companies across the economy — from tech giants to automakers — deep into the energy business. Why it matters: The scramble for electricity has become the gold rush beneath the AI boom, creating enormous financial value and enormous risk if demand falls short. Driving the news: Electricity — long treated as a cheap, abundant commodity — is suddenly emerging as one of the most valuable strategic assets in business. - "Everyone to some extent is either dependent on energy as a core input or they see energy as a huge opportunity," said Brian Janous, who was Microsoft's first energy hire 15 years ago and is now co-founder of data center developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure. The latest: Ford unveiled earlier this…
HOUSTON — A high-stakes fight is emerging as the AI boom accelerates: Should data centers plug into the grid, or operate as energy "islands"? Why it matters: The debate is shaping power flows and multibillion-dollar investments, as data centers rival entire cities in their electricity demand. Driving the news: Chevron said this week it's working on a deal to build a natural gas plant dedicated to a Microsoft data center in Texas — one of many signs that on-site power is gaining traction. - Roughly 30% of all planned data center power capacity is expected to be on site, according to a February report by Cleanview, a market intelligence firm — up from almost nothing a year earlier. "A lot of people look at that 30% figure from our…