This article is adapted from an article by Michael Robinson. He has spent more than four decades as an investigative journalist uncovering the story behind massive tech trends.

A massive energy crisis is here … and it’s all because of artificial intelligence. It is one of the reasons why solar and wind (intermittent renewables) are not adequate for maintaining supply. Nuclear is considered the best option to stabilise the energy mix.

On average, just one new AI data center currently requires the same amount of electricity as 750,000 homes. That’s more than the population of cities like Seattle, Detroit, and Denver.

Nearly 3,000 more of them are on the way. No wonder Tirias Research forecasts that, by 2028, data center power consumption will be 212 times what it was in 2023.

This boom in AI data centers will push America’s power grid to the brink. According to the New York Times, the world is “poised to add the equivalent of Japan’s annual electricity demand to grids each year” over the next decade.

It could bring AI screeching to a halt … Let alone affect regular people as utility bills skyrocket — even as they face planned blackouts to conserve energy … and prolonged outages because of creaky infrastructure.

Fortunately, Meta announced yesterday a request for proposals from nuclear power developers who would help the company add 1 to 4 gigawatts of electricity generating capacity in the U.S. According to Axios, Meta is willing to share costs early in the cycle and will commit to buying power once the reactors are up and running.

The hitch? Applicants have to move fast. Initial proposals are due February 7, 2025, and Meta wants the power plants to begin operation in the early 2030s.

Microsoft has signed a deal with one of the most infamous nuclear power facilities in the US as it looks for more ways to ensure the demand for AI computing is met.

The legacy of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant has long been shaped by the 1979 Unit 2 meltdown, which had a profound effect on public perceptions of nuclear energy. What a lot of people don’t know is that Unit 1 was not only unaffected, but continued to operate safely and reliably for decades.

Now, in a major new step, Constellation has signed its largest power purchase agreement with Microsoft, leading to the planned restoration and restart of TMI Unit 1 under the name Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC). The project is expected to bring 835 megawatts of carbon-free power to the grid, create 3,400 jobs, and contribute over $3 billion in taxes.

Considering this move in the USA it will be interesting to learn how Microsoft plans to power their new data centers in Australia.

Microsoft will invest A$5 billion ($3.2 billion) in Australia to expand its cloud computing and AI infrastructure over the next two years, in what the US company described as its largest investment in the country in four decades. Announced as part of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to the US this week, the investment will help Microsoft grow its data centers across Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne by 45% – from 20 sites up to 29.

The following video shows that power constraints are the major problem facing Data Centre growth.