New industries such as cryptocurrency and cannabis are boosting industry forecasts, straining efforts to cut emissions
Demand for power is soaring, creating a new energy crisis for the United States – one that could make the climate crisis even worse.
After more than 30 years of falling or flat demand for electricity, forecasts say the nation will need the equivalent of about 34 new nuclear plants, or 38 gigawatts, over the next five years to power data centers and manufacturing and electrify buildings and vehicles, according to filings made to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and compiled by Grid Strategies.
Since those filings, several utilities have said they will need even more power.
Georgia Power, which has more than 2.7 million customers, told regulators in 2022 it would need the equivalent of an extra single mid-sized power plant for the rest of the decade. But late last year, it said it will need 17 times more electricity – the equivalent of four new nuclear units – because of new data centers and manufacturing.
The thing is that having everyone who has a natural gas furnace switch to a heat pump and having that gas burned at a municipal generator instead IS a good thing. It will use less fossil fuel than keeping the furnaces in people’s houses and it is easier to switch a whole city’s power grid over to something cleaner like wind, solar, or nuclear once the demand exists.