Bloomberg News: Big tech data centers, & AI are ‘going to disrupt the green transition’ as utilities ‘rely heavily on natural gas, & even coal’ to ‘have reliable & affordable power’

Hillarious

Bloomberg bemoans that increasing electricity consumption from data centers and AI means more electricity from coal, giving up on climate

Unreasonably, according to Bloomberg, people are starting to stress “reliability” and affordability https://t.co/wiUKvoVV5t pic.twitter.com/YbvmOwvES9

— Bjorn Lomborg (@BjornLomborg) December 17, 2024

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-12-17/coal-black-swans-threaten-the-green-transition

Coal-black swans threaten the green transition

By Will Wade

Something strange is happening with utilities.

For decades, electricity usage in the US has been mostly flat. Even with more people starting to use more power for more things, much of that has been offset as buildings, factories and appliances become more efficient.

But suddenly that’s changing, and the industry isn’t ready. Big tech companies need lots of electricity, for data centers and especially for artificial intelligence. Homes are using more electricity for heating and cooling. Factories need more electricity to shift away from fossil fuels.

And when faced with this sudden increase of load on the power grid, utilities are going to rely heavily on natural gas, and even coal.

“It will be a struggle to meet load growth,” said Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, a Washington-based research company that’s been tracking this trend. He expects US demand to for electricity to climb almost 16% over the next five years, more than triple his estimate from a year ago. Utilities are expecting customers to need as much as 128 gigawatts of new capacity in 2029.

That’s really going to disrupt the green transition. Power providers that have made pledges to cut back or eliminate carbon emissions are now starting to reverse course. Duke Energy Corp. plans to extend the life of its largest coal-fired power plant, which would push aside its goal to exit coal by 2035. Duke has said that its resource plans are not final decisions and are revised regularly.

FirstEnergy also will operate a pair of coal plants, stepping back from an earlier pledge to stop using the fuel by 2030. And energy companies in the US are planning new gas plants at the fastest pace in years.

And all of that is before Donald Trump returns to the White House next month. The president-elect is well-known for his support of fossil fuels and his skepticism of climate policies.

While states have broad authority to regulate power plants, the president will still have plenty of tools to help steer energy policy. Power companies seeking to add fossil-fuel capacity may soon find more backing from Washington.

Utilities are starting to stress “reliability” in their strategic plans — making sure there’s enough power to go around, even at the expense of ambitious climate goals.

The US set a target for net-zero emissions by 2050 after Biden took office, and this will face new challenges under Trump.

For many companies, carbon goals are “nice to have,” says Gramlich. But “when push comes to shove, states are going to make sure they have reliable and affordable power.”

Via Human Progress: