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- AI is driving a massive demand for electricity.
- Despite earlier commitments, some executives now say clean energy may not meet AI's growing needs.
- That could force AI companies to rely more on fossil fuels than they hoped.
AI is driving a dramatic new need for electricity, and while tech execs have long trumpeted their commitment to a green energy future, the urgency of that need presents them with a difficult path forward.
Questions about fueling the AI boom took center stage earlier this month at the CERAWeek by S&P Global, The Wall Street Journal reported. The annual energy conference draws thousands of executives to Houston to discuss topics ranging from geopolitics to the energy transition.
No one knows how much electricity will be needed to power the AI boom. AI requires massive computing power and energy loads and has triggered an explosion of data centers. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said at the conference that the amount of power AI is bound to consume is mind-blowing.
"You go, 'Oh, my God, this is going to be incredible,'" Gates reportedly said. ChatGPT alone uses more than 17,000 times more electricity than the average US household daily.
The concern among tech execs is that the energy demands of AI will surpass the capacities of clean sources. Wind and solar power aren't reliable because they're subject to changes in weather. While nuclear facilities take years to build, so they aren't a viable option when companies need power immediately.
"Tech is not going to wait 7 to 10 years to get this infrastructure built," Toby Rice, the CEO of natural gas producer EQT, said in an interview with the Journal. "That leaves you with natural gas." At the conference, Rice said he was repeatedly asked two questions: "How fast can you guys move? How much gas can we get?"
The problem is all the more pressing given the Biden administration's goals for lowering carbon emissions — a byproduct of burning coal and natural gas that exacerbate the climate crisis. Last April, Biden set an ambitious target for the power sector to be carbon-neutral by 2035 and for the US economy to be net-zero by 2050.
Some executives were adamant that the dramatic growth in AI wouldn't impede the clean energy transition. "We're going to be net-zero by 2050. We still absolutely believe that," said Robert Blue, the CEO of Dominion Energy, the Journal reported. "But the demand growth now makes that more complicated."
Blue said his company was building at least one new natural gas plant to meet demand for data centers.