Electric avenues: AI data centers spur natural gas, solar; challenge power grids

The technical backbone to power AI’s computers and machine learning algorithms need significantly more electricity than existing data centers that have fueled the internet age.

Artificial intelligence requires new data centers with more computing power and increased energy and water consumption.

Cooling towers at Constellation’s nuclear power plant stand on Three Mile Island near Middletown, Pa.

President Donald Trump listens as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Tuesday Sept.

29, 2026, after meeting with top executives of AI firms.

The Trump administration has launched a new $1.9 billion effort to upgrade aging electricity transmission lines across the country.

Energy use and worries about higher utility bills are among the concerns raised by AI data center opponents across the country.

The technical backbone to power AI’s computers and machine learning algorithms need significantly more electricity than existing data centers that have fueled the internet age.

The technical backbone to power AI’s computers and machine learning algorithms need significantly more electricity than existing data centers that have fueled the internet age.

• A server rack in an existing, conventional data center consumes 5 to 10 kilowatts of electricity compared to AI data center racks, which require 40 to 100 kW, according to Hanwha Data Centers.

• A single AI query or prompt uses 10 to 15 times more electricity than a traditional web search.

• A data center uses 10 to 50 times more energy per square foot than a commercial office building.

The need for power is in tandem with the need for speed to market with new data centers.

Hyperscalers and developers are projected to spend $7.6 trillion on AI data centers through 2031, according to Goldman Sachs.

That “force of capital” is the AI bus driving the search for consistent electricity flows, said Brandon Michalski, chief economist at MOCA Systems Inc., a Boston-based infrastructure technology firm.

Artificial intelligence requires new data centers with more computing power and increased energy and water consumption.

Data center developers and users are looking at various energy options for planned and proposed AI projects.

Some energy sources are more doable than others, at least for the first phases of the AI wave.

Natural gas is a top power source for new electricity-hungry data centers, according to Parag Nathaney, a Washington-based energy and electricity markets analyst.

Nathaney said right now data center builders’ preference is to be on the grid with close connections to natural gas pipelines.