All Eyes on A.I.
Just as Audrey II demands, “Feed me, Seymour” in “The Little Shop of Horrors,” so too do the data centers used for Artificial Intelligence (AI) demand to be fed – electricity! What does that mean for the future of AI and electricity usage?
The Use of AI
As more people and companies use AI for summarizing complex texts, creating graphics for advertising, or simply for research, the need for data centers that host those AI computers will be ever-expanding. The placement of these data centers is being questioned. Rather than using old factories, many companies are choosing to purchase farmlands to build new centers. That may create temporary jobs, but could it be putting our food supply at risk?
According to an AI experiment conducted by licensed psychologist, Peter McCusker, AI answers to questions tend to be biased against more conservative issues and toward more liberal ideology. If that is the case, then AI has more to learn. With each query entered and project specified in the multiple AI sites, the energy demand will skyrocket.
Electricity Needs
As discussed in the Higher Energy Costs Coming article in May, 2025, Southeastern Pennsylvania’s electricity is on the PJM Interconnection grid of 13 states plus the District of Columbia. The PJM grid hosts about 25% of the nation’s data centers, with the largest concentration being around Washington D.C. in northern Virginia as seen in the below chart.
As AI use increases, it is estimated that electricity demands will increase by 25% in the next 5 years and increase by 78% in the next 25 years. With increased demand comes increased prices not only for businesses, but homeowners as well. As reported in Broad + Liberty, according to tech consulting firm, ICF, future electric reliability and affordability must be considered now as new energy generation is brought online. Natural gas and nuclear plants are the safest and most reliable sources of electric generation. Anyone in the tech/AI/energy industries knows this.
Coincidentally, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, after decades of proclaiming that need for carbon reduction, recently backpedaled on his crusade on climate change. In his essay from October 28, 2025, Gates proclaimed that climate change will not lead to the demise of humanity. Clearly, he doesn’t plan to run the company’s AI, Microsoft Copilot, with windmills and solar panels!
Bottom line…
Artificial intelligence is not going away and neither will its increasing demand for electricity to sustain it. That demand will drive electricity prices up for all users until supply increases. The sources of electricity must be reliable no matter the season or the location, which make natural gas and nuclear the best options. Pennsylvania has one of the highest natural gas reserves in the country and will surely be tapped to provide more electricity for the PJM grid. Additionally, nuclear power plants provide some of the cleanest energy available, but they must be run safely. New plants will most likely need to be built in the near future. Despite the increasing demand for power from the ever-growing AI beast, priority must be given to households’ electric needs. Humans should be the master of technology, not the other way around. We must never lose that advantage.
As the Constitutional Convention ended in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked if the delegates produced a monarchy or a republic. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
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