The winter storm tested power grids that are straining to accommodate artificial intelligence data centers

The massive one Winter storm That swept 34 states Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity. Extremely cold temperatures left after Winter Storm Fern Still testing power gridsactually Under pressure From the rush of new AI data centers.

Over the weekend, wholesale electricity prices rose in Virginia The country with the most data centers. Although this is not surprising during a spike in energy demand for heating, it could fuel growth Dissatisfaction with high utility bills That fed Opposing data centers across the United States. Utility and network operators were already under intense pressure to meet requirements Increased power requirements for artificial intelligenceWhich may make it more difficult to prepare before a climate disaster occurs.

“This is definitely causing more price volatility,” says Nikhil Kumar, program director at energy consulting firm GridLab.

Kumar is quick to add that it’s still too early to say exactly what impact data centers will have on power grids during this week’s cold snap, and that the effects could vary from place to place. But this week’s stress test will be important to watch amid the challenges facing future power grids, as the United States deals with a changing energy landscape and a changing climate.

In Virginia, wholesale electricity prices rose above $1,800 on Sunday from about $200 the day before. CNBC reports. Utility Dominion Energy, the largest energy provider, did not immediately respond to questions from Edge About the factors affecting the rise in wholesale costs, and the extent to which this affects the bills of residential customers. Company Announced on Monday It restored power to 85 percent of the 48,000 customers affected by the storm in Virginia.

Keep in mind that a lot Various issues lead to higher energy costs. The demand for electricity is It rises more sharply than it was more than a decade ago due to artificial intelligence data centers, as well as domestic manufacturing and the electrification of homes and buildings. Utilities are also having to spend a lot of money upgrading aging infrastructure, as well as repairing damage from increasing climate-related disasters such as storms that have contributed to… Long power outages in the United States.

With power grids approaching a century old and the growing need to expand transmission lines to connect new energy sources and customers, “we’re working with our grandfathers’ Buick,” says George Gross, professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering.

When a local utility experiences an emergency, it can usually pull additional resources from other utilities. Officials were more concerned about this winter storm limiting this type of aid, given the size of the affected area. “A lot of them are in exactly the same problem, so you can’t necessarily get help from your neighbors,” Gross says.

Severe weather drives up prices due to a spike in demand for heating or cooling and congestion along power lines. Scarce supplies can also make energy more expensive and increase the risk of power outages if cold spells freeze production of natural gas, the main energy source for electricity and heating in the United States. Ice buildup on power lines and tree branches — the biggest threat to power grids this week — could lead to power outages.

We saw all of these factors come into play during the Winter Storm Fern. It also led to more destruction Power outages in Texas in 2021 When millions of residents lost power and at least 246 people lost their lives as a result of Winter Storm Uri.

Fortunately, this week’s cold snap was not devastating, thanks in part to the preparations made by utilities and power grid operators. Texas in particular has Deploy more batteries For energy storage since 2021, which This week helped.

The Department of Energy has also issued orders over the past few days to supervising grid operators Texas And a lot of East Coast Allowing them to deploy backup generators in data centers and other large industrial facilities “regardless of limits set by environmental permits or state law.”

However, we don’t know how much these measures could help reduce the supply crunch because it’s unclear how that would work logistically and what authority the federal government has in these cases, experts say. Edge. The order has not yet been implemented for generators in Texas because the state has not reached a high enough energy alert level, according to Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin.

“If this is a tool we’re going to use, we should figure that out in advance, before we get into a winter storm,” he says. “Making policies during emergencies usually does not lead to the best policies.”

Higher energy prices could eventually incentivize AI data center operators to voluntarily limit their electricity consumption during high demand. They can also make money through so-called demand response programs. Likewise energy-hungry Data centers used as cryptocurrency mines have earned millions In recent years he has done just that. But Rhodes doesn’t expect AI-obsessed tech companies to follow suit soon.

“Right now, there’s a lot of noise,” says Rhodes. “They almost don’t care about the price of electricity, and that’s the bottom line when it comes to AI value generation.”

more than 489,000 customers All parts of the United States remain without power as of writing on Tuesday. Until the cold subsides, the risk of ice accumulating on critical infrastructure won’t go away either.