"The recent datacenter construction boom, driven largely by AI and other power-hungry computing workloads, has pushed electricity demand sharply upward after years of relatively flat growth."
"Data in the report shows that roughly 40 percent of the coal retirements or fuel switches scheduled to happen by the end of 2025 had not taken place."
"Utilities are forced to keep some fossil-fuel plants online longer instead of retiring them, as seen in Omaha where coal-burning generators were deemed necessary to avoid power shortages."
"The resurgence of new proposals for gas-powered plants includes on-site power generation at datacenter campuses that have struggled to connect to the grid."
Datacenter expansion in the US is increasing electricity demand, leading to a slowdown in coal plant retirements and prolonging the operation of aging fossil-fuel plants. Research indicates that utilities are keeping these plants online to meet rising energy needs, particularly in areas with new server farms. Reports show that nearly 40 percent of planned coal retirements by 2025 have not occurred, and there is a resurgence in proposals for gas-powered plants, complicating the shift to a cleaner energy grid.
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