Chicago data center electricity demand surges by 900%! AI continues to ignite global energy challenges

According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, Calvin Butler, CEO of Exelon Corp (EXC.US), stated that the development of artificial intelligence is expected to drive a 900% increase in power demand for data centers in the Chicago area. Butler revealed that there are currently about 25 data center projects undergoing engineering research within its subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison Co.'s service area, with a total power consumption estimate of 5 gigawatts, equivalent to the power generation capacity of 5 nuclear power plants. Currently, data centers require about 400 megawatts from the system, with 80% of the planned development projects set to be completed soon.

Butler added, "We have witnessed extensive activities by data center developers who are attracted by ComEd's low electricity prices, carbon-free power from nuclear reactors, and national tax incentives." An Exelon spokesperson emphasized that the company will continue to ensure that its system can handle additional power load growth.

Currently, power companies and regulatory agencies are facing the largest demand growth in decades. In addition to supporting data centers that run artificial intelligence computations, the U.S. power grid is also preparing for new factories and electrification transitions, such as the proliferation of vehicles and heat pumps.

Almost all organizations - whether private companies, public institutions, universities, or IT service providers - rely on data centers to store their digital data and IT systems, benefiting from services such as cloud computing, hosting websites, databases, and applications.

However, data centers require a large amount of electricity to power their computer servers and cooling systems. According to data from the International Energy Agency, data centers' electricity consumption averages 2% of the national electricity consumption. With the continuous growth in data processing and storage needs, this consumption level is expected to further increase.

Especially in today's booming artificial intelligence technology, the demand for electricity appears more urgent. Billionaire Elon Musk pointed out that although last year's development of artificial intelligence was limited by "chip constraints," the key bottleneck has now shifted to "power supply."

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also warned earlier this year that "the current energy supply is not sufficient to support the new generation of generative AI services." It is reported that Amazon, Microsoft, and Google's parent company Alphabet are investing billions of dollars to enhance their computing infrastructure to meet the huge resource demands of artificial intelligence, especially data centers that typically require years of planning and construction.

However, some popular data center construction sites, such as Northern Virginia, are facing capacity constraints, further driving the global data center market to seek suitable locations.

Kagi Sharma, Executive Vice President of Schneider Electric's Data Center Division, stated, "The demand for data centers has always been high, but we may not have enough capacity to meet global demand by 2030." Sharma's team is currently collaborating with chip manufacturer NVIDIA to design centers optimized for artificial intelligence workloads Daniel Golding, former data center executive at Google and Chief Technology Officer at Appleby Strategy Group, mentioned: "In the new artificial intelligence economy, one limitation of deploying chips lies in where we build data centers and how we obtain electricity. To some extent, power supply will restrict further development of artificial intelligence."