The staggering electricity demand needed to power next-generation technology is forcing the US to rely on yesterday’s fuel source: coal.
Retirement dates for the country’s ageing coal fleet are getting pushed back as concerns over grid reliability and expectations of soaring power demand force operators to keep capacity online.
The shift in coal retirement plans underscores a growing dilemma facing the Biden administration as the US race to lead in AI and manufacturing drives an unprecedented growth in power demand that clashes with its decarbonisation targets. The International Energy Agency estimates the AI application ChatGPT uses nearly 10 times as much electricity as Google search.
The EPA found in its analyses that the power sector can meet demand while reducing pollution and providing reliable, affordable electricity under these rules, said a spokesperson, adding the agency “believes the rules are on firm legal ground”.
Indiana is leading a group of 25 states in a lawsuit to stop the EPA rules.
“We need more energy, not less,” Indiana’s Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, told the Financial Times. “We absolutely as Americans can’t afford to lose the AI war.”