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LoveWitch [he/him, comrade/them] @ LoveWitch @hexbear.net
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  • AI likely to cause rolling blackouts across USA

    With soaring summer temps ahead, AI data centers could strain electricity supplies in the Mid-Atlantic

    Forecasts for scorching temperatures across the Mid-Atlantic this summer could result in a higher-than-usual demand for electricity — at a time when federal regulators are warning that the margins between supply and demand are shrinking.

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s 2025 Summer Assessment of electricity reliability from June through September says while all areas of the country will have enough supply, regional electric grids could be stressed by rising temperatures and a demand that is expected to outpace the previous four summers.

    While FERC’s annual assessment anticipates an adequate supply of electricity under normal conditions, Chairman Mark Christie said the loss of available electricity is happening “at a pace that is not sustainable and we are not adding sufficient equivalent generation capacity.”

    The Mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM Interconnection, which coordinates the transmission of electricity for 67 million commercial and residential customers in all or parts of 13 states and Washington D.C., recently announced that while it expects to have enough supply to meet demand this summer, for the first time, its supply may fall short in an “extreme planning scenario.” The need for more than 166,000 megawatts of electricity would tip the balance, which is enough to power about 133 million homes.

    The biggest increase in demand comes from the enormous amount of energy required to power artificial intelligence and data centers, said Dave Souder, PJM Interconnection’s executive director of systems operations.

    “We’re seeing a lot of electrification and or data center loads, with all the AI and computer requirements,” Souder said. “We’re seeing less capacity. We’re seeing generators retire before we have enough replacement generation come online.”

    Souder said many of those retirements are coal plants. And while new solar and wind sources are increasing, they haven’t kept pace.

    Who could have seen this coming literally 20 years ago