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America’s Power Grid Can’t Keep Up with AI Demand by Ambia Staley

William Attardi on May 19, 2026

The U.S. needs about 5,000 miles of high-voltage transmission per year to keep pace with electricity demand. In 2024, just 888 miles were completed, according to an analysis by Grid Strategies. That gap is widening even as data center developers race to bring tens of gigawatts of new load online. The result is a structural mismatch between the speed at which demand arrives and the speed at which the grid can absorb it. Global electricity demand from data centers grew by 17% in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency, with AI-focused data center electricity consumption growing even faster, surging 50%. In the U.S., data centers now account for about half of the country’s incremental demand growth, according to the IEA’s global energy assessment. AI data centers have U.S. power grid struggling to keep up

Utilities Plan to Spend $1.4 Trillion Over Next Five Years to Power AI Boom by Jennifer Hiller

William Attardi on April 14, 2026

U.S. utilities are planning a historic investment spree to patch up an aging power grid and meet rising electricity demand for the artificial-intelligence boom. Capital spending plans for 51 investor-owned utilities have reached an estimated $1.4 trillion for the next five years, according to a new report from PowerLines, a consumer education group. That is up more than 20% from a year ago, when the companies planned to spend about $1.1 trillion over a five-year period. The record levels of capital investments are being driven by fresh demand on an aging electricity system that already needed upgrades. Unlike any prior customer, new AI data centers can consume the same amount of electricity as an entire city, with high demand around the clock. Beyond AI, many utilities are trying to keep up with growth in manufacturing, electric vehicles and residential markets, too. Utilities Plan to Spend $1.4 Trillion Over Next Five Years to Power AI Boom – WSJ

Hitachi to Invest $1 Billion to Produce Power Grid Components in US by Laila Kearney

William Attardi on September 5, 2025

Hitachi plans to invest $1 billion to expand its U.S. power grid infrastructure manufacturing, its energy unit said on Thursday, as the country faces record electricity demand from Big Tech’s build-out of AI data centers. The U.S. holds the biggest concentration in the world of data centers, which are expected to triple their energy use to consume about 12% of the domestic power supply in less than three years. As a result, many utilities are ramping up spending on the long-stagnating electrical grid. Nearly half of Hitachi Energy’s latest investment, or $457 million, will go towards building a new facility in South Boston, Virginia, to manufacture large power transformers. The facility will be the biggest U.S. producer of the massive transformers, which can run as large as a two-story home, Hitachi said.  Hitachi to invest $1 billion to produce power grid components in US | Reuters

Interesting: The Three Pillars of Independence of an Organization

The 3 Pillars of Independence most commonly refers to a framework from the UK voluntary sector (specifically promoted by organizations like Bond and the Directory of Social Change). It is a toolkit for assessing and maintaining the independence of charities, NGOs, or civil society organizations.

The Three Pillars are:

  1. Independent of Party Politics – The organization (or regulator) must remain free from bias or influence by any political party or the government of the day. Decisions should be impartial, not favoring one political side.
  2. Independent of Populism – It should not be swayed by popular public opinion, media-driven campaigns, or transient public pressure, especially on controversial or unpopular causes.
  3. Independent of the Press – Freedom from media influence or pressure, ensuring decisions are based on evidence and law rather than headlines or public narratives.

This toolkit was created to monitor potential political encroachment on charitable regulation and to ensure charities can operate without undue external interference.

 

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