U.S. Grid Investments Jump as AI Leads Power Demand Surge

A number of grid operators and utilities in the United States are planning billions of U.S. dollars worth of investments in power transmission lines and networks as American electricity demand rises after two decades of stagnation.
The advancements in AI and the surge in electricity demand for powering and cooling data centers have prompted the utilities sector to realign their goals and investment plans as they seek to keep up with the consumption increase.
Last month, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) approved the largest portfolio of transmission projects in the nation’s history. The 488 projects span more than 5,000 miles across 15 states in the MISO footprint and include local reliability and growth projects, the Long Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) Tranche 2.1 portfolio of projects and the Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue (JTIQ) projects with Southwest Power Pool.
All these projects will see investments of more than $22 billion.
“The energy landscape is quickly transitioning, and we must work with urgency to implement the changes that ensure reliability today and in the future,” MISO’s chief executive John Bear said.
U.S. regions that would be late to the planning and investing in power transmission and grid upgrades could see their power systems “significantly constrained,” Dan Gunderson, VP of Transmission and Distribution at utility Minnesota Power, told Reuters.
Data center load growth in the U.S. has tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple by 2028, the U.S. Department of Energy said in December, commenting on a report produced by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
U.S. electricity demand is projected to account for data center expansion and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, domestic manufacturing growth, and electrification of different industries, DOE under the Biden administration said last month.
This month, the first executive orders from President Donald Trump have had renewable power generators anxious, but it’s likely that all kinds of energy will be needed to power AI growth. And investments in power transmission across America will be crucial to bring the generated power to consumers and data centers.

About Parvin Faghfouri Azar

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