AI数据中心掀起“電力爭奪戰”：美國擬加速大型算力設施併網

Odaily Planet Daily News The AI boom has caused a surge in electricity demand from data centers across the United States, leading to persistently high electricity prices in many areas, with some regions even issuing power outage warnings. To alleviate the power supply dilemma, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the 18th required regional grid operators to consider new agreements to accelerate the grid connection speed for large power consumers such as data centers. The commission also stated that it will no longer proactively consider environmental impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act when formulating future rules.

According to data from Data Center Map, there are currently over 4,000 operational data centers in the United States, with a large number more in the planning or construction phases. However, the construction pace of these data centers far exceeds the speed at which new power plants come online, and the progress of connecting them to the grid is too slow. As a result, major tech giants across the country are scrambling to secure electricity quotas for their data centers. Data from the Electric Power Research Institute shows that data centers currently account for about 5% of total U.S. electricity demand. By 2035, this share could rise to about 20%. (CCTV Finance)