Energy companies told to recharge for AI datacenter surge
US energy companies must adapt to the AI-driven datacenter boom with power use forecast to outstrip supply within the next few years.
According to analysis by management consultancy Bain & Company, investments needed to build this additional capacity carry risks, but to not do so could mean utility providers miss out on extra revenues.
Datacenter expansion is being propelled by demand for more and more infrastructure to support the development and deployment of AI models, with capital expenditure on bit barns projected to grow nearly 30 percent this year alone.
Many of the biggest datacenter investors are based in the US and it is one of the locations expected to substantially expand capacity over the rest of this decade. A study by Rystad Energy published earlier this year estimated that power consumption from all those server farms will more than double by 2030.
The latest report from Bain warns that growing energy use could outstrip supply in just a couple of years, and utilities should look to boost their annual energy generation by up to 26 percent by 2028 to fulfil demand.
