To meet the growing electricity demand for powering artificial intelligence, the U.S. should take inspiration from China, according to the CEO of the power company that recently secured a deal with Microsoft to revive the inactive Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
Large tech companies are proposing data centers so enormous that they would only be feasible if built directly next to power plants, according to Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation Energy, during an interview with Bloomberg News. He highlighted that China is already utilizing this approach in its planned AI projects.
This marks a significant departure from the current practice of relying on extensive long-distance transmission lines to deliver electricity. The U.S. faces a shortage of such infrastructure, and utility companies note that connecting new facilities to the grid can take years. These delays present challenges for data center operators who need immediate power access, with AI’s growing importance to national security adding to the urgency, Dominguez explained.
In the interview, Dominguez stated, “Constellation has been part of discussions with customers that are looking at multi-gigawatt data centers.” “Only at the site where the power is generated could it be done.”
Energy firms in the US are rushing to keep up with the surge in electricity consumption from industrial plants, electric vehicles, and power-hungry AI data centers. Only a few years ago, experts believed that the output of solar and wind power would be adequate to meet future demands for electricity. These days, utilities are proposing record levels of new natural gas generation, nuclear reactors are once again popular, and coal plants are being kept online for longer periods of time.
Constellation declared this week that it will supply Microsoft with electricity after restarting a reactor at the Pennsylvanian plant Three Mile Island. Moreover, Amazon.com committed in March to investing US$650 million to purchase a data center campus that is connected to a different nuclear power plant in the state. The greatest possibilities for supplying electricity to massive US data centers are 24/7 nuclear facilities, according to Dominguez, given the massive power requirements.
According to him, AI is here to stay. “And from both an economic and a geopolitical security standpoint, the nation must succeed in AI.”