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PNNL/ASHRAE/NEMA AI Data Center Energy Performance Framework

William Attardi on October 5, 2026

PNNL, ASHRAE, and NEMA conducted an industry survey that revealed the need for collaboration, clear direction, standardization, ongoing engagement, knowledge sharing and education. To address these needs, the three organizations, in conjunction with several industry partners, created the AI Data Center Energy Performance Framework with the following objectives:

Deliver a scalable framework for the efficient design, commissioning, retrofit, and operation of AI data centers
Enhance energy and water efficiency through adoption of advanced technologies and best practices
Support grid reliability and resilience by promoting load flexibility and grid-interactive operations

The Framework presents the guiding principles for building and operating energy-efficient AI data centers. With sections covering all stages of planning, design, construction, operation, and retrofit, this framework guides AI data center development toward optimized and energy-efficient performance. PNNL/ASHRAE/NEMA AI Data Center Energy Performance Framework

PwC Maps $31.6 Trillion AI Data Center Buildout Through 2050 by Matt Vincent

William Attardi on September 26, 2026

PwC’s inaugural Global Data Centre Outlook projects a multi-decade infrastructure cycle increasingly dominated by recurring GPU and server investment, with power availability, chip access and data sovereignty determining where trillions of dollars in data center capital ultimately land. The scale of the AI infrastructure buildout is becoming easier to describe in trillions than billions. PwC’s inaugural Global Data Centre Outlook 2026–50 projects $31.6 trillion in cumulative global data center capital expenditure through 2050 under its central scenario, with annual spending rising from roughly $800 billion in 2026 to $1.1 trillion in 2030 and $1.8 trillion by 2050. There is also an enormous range around that central case. PwC, working with Oxford Economics, puts plausible cumulative investment at roughly $22 trillion to nearly $50 trillion, depending primarily on how quickly AI adoption progresses. But the most important finding may not be the $31.6 trillion headline.PwC Maps $31.6 Trillion AI Data Center Buildout Through 2050 | Data Center Frontier

Congress Pushed to Act Now to Stop Looming Crisis for America’s Electric Grid by Kerry Picket

William Attardi on September 18, 2026

America’s electrical grid is hurtling toward a crisis point, according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. The association projects that U.S. electricity demand will surge 55% by 2050, driven largely by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and data centers. To bolster the electric grid, NEMA is pushing for Congress to pass the Senate’s STRONG Grid Act and Rewiring America Act and the House’s High-Capacity Grid Act. Congress pushed to act now to stop looming crisis for America’s electric grid

AI Boom to Drive Data Center Electricity Demand to 20% of US Total by 2035

William Attardi on July 21, 2026

Data centers in the US are projected to consume 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2035, a significant rise from 5.9% this year. The increase reflects a dramatic surge in energy demand, particularly in states like Virginia and Texas, where data centers are heavily clustered. BloombergNEF forecasts data center power requirements will reach 194 gigawatts, underscoring the sector’s escalating impact on national power consumption over the next decade. AI Boom to Drive Data Center Electricity Demand to 20% of US Total by 2035 – Bloomberg

As AI Companies Race for Power, Amazon and Google Have the Lead by Jinjoo Lee

William Attardi on June 29, 2026

Amazon has an incumbent advantage, and Google stands out for some innovative approaches. The rapid adoption of AI has intensified power demand among hyperscale cloud companies, with Amazon and Google at the forefront. Amazon’s US self-built data centers now use up to 9 gigawatts of power, a figure comparable to an entire state’s generation capacity. Google and Microsoft trail with capacities around 5 gigawatts each, while Meta sits at 4 gigawatts. The competition is not merely about expansion but also about securing reliable, scalable power sources to meet the growing requirements of AI workloads. All the hyperscalers have also placed bets on novel technology providers that promise to eventually supply cheap, clean, reliable and fast energy. These range from small modular nuclear reactors, advanced geothermal and novel batteries to solar energy beamed in from space. SpaceX and Google are even eyeing data centers in space. As AI Companies Race for Power, Amazon and Google Have the Lead – WSJ

BriteSwitch: Commercial Lighting Rebates Are Still Widely Available

William Attardi on June 18, 2026

As energy demand continues to rise, driven in part by new data centers built to support the growth of artificial intelligence, both homes and businesses are feeling the pressure of higher utility bills. For commercial customers, those increases are bringing renewed attention to energy-saving projects. One of the most familiar options, lighting upgrades, is once again becoming a way for businesses to help offset rising operating costs. Support for commercial lighting rebates remains strong and help make an even stronger case for lighting upgrades. Currently, 75% of the U.S.has access to an active commercial lighting rebate program. Rising Electric Rates Make Lighting Upgrades Worth Another Look

Can Light Solve AI’s Energy Bottleneck? by Nick New

William Attardi on June 12, 2026

The increasing energy requirements to power AI is unsustainable, with concerns also growing about the environmental damage that supplying such energy could cause. We are now at an inflection point. Traditional electrical data transfer methods are reaching their limits, with NVIDIA showing its hand by recently investing $4 billion in two photonics companies, Coherent Corp. and Lumentum. NVIDIA is betting on a future where data is transmitted via light (photons) rather than electricity. Photonics can be integrated directly onto silicon chips to enable scalability and efficiency improvements over electricity. The crux of photonics’ efficiency gain is simple: Light travels faster and carries more information, while producing less heat than electrons. This results in dramatically higher compute density, lower power consumption, and superior thermal performance to overcome the limits imposed by the rise of dark silicon on conventional chips. Can light solve AI’s energy bottleneck? | Laser Focus World

Report: Global Data Center Capex Projection Passes $1 Trillion

William Attardi on June 11, 2026

According to a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group, the worldwide data center capex outlook for 2026 was raised as hyperscale AI deployments accelerated, complemented by continued investments in general-purpose infrastructure and rising component costs. Dell’Oro Group’s Data Center IT Capex Quarterly Report details the data center infrastructure capital expenditures of each of the ten largest Cloud service providers Additional highlights from the 1Q 2026 Data Center IT Capex Quarterly Report:

The global data center capex outlook was raised to more than $1 trillion for 2026.
The Top 4 US cloud providers—Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft—increased data center capex by 78 percent.
Dell led server OEM revenue in the quarter, followed by Supermicro and Lenovo, while white-box vendors serving the hyperscale market accounted for the majority of server revenue. Nearly all server vendors benefited from higher memory-driven system pricing.