Overview

• International Energy Agency forecasts AI data centers will consume about 945 TWh by 2030, more than double today’s levels and equal to Japan’s annual usage
• Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google have signed long-term nuclear purchase agreements to secure round-the-clock power for their AI workloads
• Under these deals, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois are slated to restart by 2027
• Hitachi Energy cautions that AI model training can trigger power surges up to ten times normal loads, raising risks of blackouts
• Researchers propose brief, targeted data center slowdowns to free roughly 76 gigawatts of peak grid capacity during high-demand periods