#energyusage — Public Fediverse posts

Arizona Republic: Data centers guzzle Arizona’s water and power. We calculated how much. “The Republic found that data centers already operating in the region have a combined capacity of at least 2.3 gigawatts. That’s enough power to serve a medium-sized city composed of 300,000 to 500,000 homes. Planned data centers could bring at least 8.5 additional gigawatts onto the local grid. That’s […]

UC Berkeley News: Why we don’t need more data centers to build better AI. “The explosive growth of AI technology is fueling massive demand for data centers, spurring some seemingly outlandish ideas about where to put these new facilities. At the same time, growing concern about the environmental costs of data centers — which gobble up large amounts of energy and water — is prompting some […]

The Current Georgia: Georgia data centers likely to demand more energy than the state can provide. “Last year, Georgia Power got permission from the state’s Public Service Commission to radically increase the amount of electricity the utility generates and sells. The reason data centers. Now as communities across the state make deals with data center developers, there’s reason to believe […]

Searchlight New Mexico: Heinrich proposes legislation to make data centers pay for grid infrastructure. “U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., introduced a bill Monday that aims to prevent utility customers from bearing the costs of data center infrastructure. The GRID Savings Act, proposed as Congress nears its summer recess, would make hyperscale companies pay for necessary upgrades to the […]

Texas Tribune: Data center approvals in Texas halted until audits completed, Gov. Greg Abbott says. “Amid growing public backlash to the rapid buildout of data centers across Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced a moratorium on the approval of data centers until regulatory agencies can audit proposed data centers seeking connection to the state’s electric grid.”

Gothamist: Upstate NY crypto mine seeks to become data center. “The Greenidge Generation plant’s neighbors have long complained that the facility, which has more than 20,000 continuously operating computers, is a threat to the picturesque region. Now, Greenidge has rebranded as Vulcan Infrastructure and Power, and is asking for 200 megawatts of additional power from the grid — enough energy […]

This is Reno: NV Energy sues to block private arbitration for 2-gigawatt data center projects. “NV Energy filed a lawsuit Friday in Washoe County Second Judicial District Court seeking to block a private arbitration involving a large proposed data center development. The public utility argues that decisions about electric service, utility planning and customer costs belong exclusively before […]

Associated Press: Trump expands a voluntary pledge to protect consumers from high utility bills from AI data centers. “President Donald Trump on Thursday had governors and electricity companies join a voluntary pledge to shield U.S. consumers from higher utility bills from data centers — a sign of how the artificial intelligence build-out has become a lightning rod of controversy before the […]

TechSpot: Data centers on track to consume 20% of US power by 2035. “Data centers are on track to consume 12% of the nation’s total electricity supply by 2030 and one-fifth of US supply by 2035, according to the latest projections from BloombergNEF. For comparison, data centers today account for approximately 5.9% of power consumption.”

Signal Cleveland: How data centers could affect Northeast Ohio’s power grid, water use and air quality. “Debate over Cleveland data center rules have highlighted concerns about power demand, water use and air quality. The answers depends on the facility, but the largest centers can consume enough electricity as hundreds of thousands of homes and millions of gallons of water each day.”

The Register: Oracle faces $100M annual bill to back Wisconsin datacenter power promises. “Oracle says that it could face more than $100 million a year in financing costs to guarantee the power commitments behind a nearly 1 GW datacenter campus it is developing in Wisconsin with Vantage and OpenAI.”

The Register: Australia demands AI companies must produce more energy than they consume, stop ‘theft’ of content. “Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delivered a landmark speech outlining the nation’s AI policy, which will require datacenter builders to contribute more energy than they consume and mean AI companies must reach agreements with local artists and media before […]

Baltimore Fishbowl: Operator of Mid-Atlantic power grid, which includes Maryland, to finalize key data center regulations. “The PJM Interconnection – the regional power grid operator for Maryland and 12 other states and DC – is in the midst of finalizing consequential decisions around how it will handle the electricity demand of data centers.”

Michigan Daily: Michigan Futures Initiative to launch pilot project on sustainable AI data centers. “The Michigan Futures Initiative — a University of Michigan interdisciplinary research initiative — recently launched its pilot project, researching ways to create ethical and sustainable artificial intelligence and data centers. The project’s team hopes to announce its findings this fall.”

Georgia Tech: Data Centers Are Booming. Who Benefits?. “The researchers’ clearest finding is that metropolitan areas capture most of the economic benefits from data centers, while rural areas see far fewer spillover effects. While metro counties saw increases in employment and new business growth, non-metro counties saw no measurable gains.”

Electrek: Elon Musk quietly buys a $1 billion gas turbine company to power Grok. “Elon Musk has quietly bought APR Energy, a Jacksonville-based company that operates a fleet of mobile gas and diesel turbines totaling more than 1 GW of generation capacity. The self-styled champion of a ‘solar electric economy’ now owns a fossil fuel power company — and he’s buying it to feed the […]

The Register: Irish datacenters now guzzle 23% of the country’s electricity. “The latest figures from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that giant server farms now account for nearly a quarter of the country’s metered electricity consumption. Their share rose to 23 percent in 2025 after passing 20 percent in 2023 and 14 percent in 2021 – up from just 5 percent way back in 2015.”

New York Times: Data Centers to Add Billions in Power Costs in 13 States. This link goes to a gift article. “PJM, the nation’s largest electrical grid operator, on Tuesday released results of an electricity auction that would add $6.3 billion in costs to the bills of millions of households and businesses within the next three years, an increase driven by the power demands of data centers.”

Politico: GOP governors, utilities join Trump data center pledge. “Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe have all signed the White House’s so-called Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a set of principles committing data center developers to pay for their fair share of energy and water use, along with electric grid improvements and maintenance, according […]

Here it is. Not a bad effort but we’ll have to wait until the #Legislation is before Parliament to know the detail. So far… so good… I think…

“Here are the main takeaways from the PM's AI speech

Joshua Boscaini profile image
By Joshua Boscaini

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just concluded his speech on the government's approach to artificial intelligence.

Here are the key takeaways and announcements from his speech to the University of Sydney:

The prime minister has announced the federal government will legislate national standards for artificial intelligence.
The standards, which the PM hopes will pass parliament early next year, will create a "legal obligation" for the next generation of data centres.
Under the standards, data centres will be forced to minimise water usage and underwrite or supply their own power.
AI companies will be barred from using Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the consent and control of the author.
Premiers and chief ministers will be consulted on the standards at the national cabinet meeting next month, according to the PM.
Albanese has also confirmed the creation of an Office of AI within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The office will coordinate the design of Australia's new national AI standards and bring together work across government.” (Source:ABCNews live)

#AI #DataCentres #Copyrights #WaterUsage #EnergyUsage #Renewables #ClimateAction #EnvirnomentalImpact #GenAISlop #TextRegurgitatingMachines #AusPol #AlboPM #AIPolicyInitiative

The Conversation: It may be almost impossible to make data centers pay their ‘fair share’ of electricity costs. “So while every state’s consumer advocate is concerned with keeping the utility’s costs as low as possible, they may be barred by law from adopting a position on how those costs should be allocated. This lack of representation in this aspect of rate-setting for average […]

🚀 Oh joy, yet another scholarly masterpiece on cellular computation, as if cells are running Windows 95 and need an upgrade! 🤖 The authors provide a thrilling breakdown of cellular energy usage—because who doesn't want to spend their weekend pondering the caloric cost of a cell's existential crisis? 🙄
https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.5426 #cellularcomputation #scholarlyarticles #energyusage #sciencehumor #existentialcrisis #HackerNews #ngated

Gizmodo: When It Comes to Energy Use, AI Agents Could Make Chatbots Look Like Pocket Calculators. “A new research paper from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology set out to quantify the ‘hidden costs’ of AI agents, and found they can consume up to 136.5 times more energy per query than generative AI models.”

Reuters: Big Tech data centers are driving up power bills at America’s Rust Belt factories. “For years, electricity costs for the Belden Brick Company in Sugarcreek, Ohio, had been relatively stable. Last year, they surged by 90% — largely because of rising power demand from data centers in the region.”

Ars Technica: Google’s AI buildout drove 37% increase in electricity use in 2025. “Google reported that its annual electricity consumption rose by 37 percent in 2025—the largest increase in the company’s history as Silicon Valley’s AI data center buildout continues. But the tech giant says it kept operational carbon emissions down by continuing to purchase massive amounts of clean energy.”

MIT News: Improving the speed and energy-efficiency of AI agents. “Agentic workflows are artificial intelligence-powered software systems that chain together multiple models and external tools to tackle complicated tasks, like analyzing a video and answering questions about it. But the way these highly fragmented systems are designed and deployed often causes inefficiencies that can lead to […]

Maryland Matters: PJM gets green light to push data centers onto back-up power during heat wave. “The nation’s largest electricity grid — which includes Maryland, Washington D.C, and a dozen other states — received a green light from the Trump administration on Tuesday to require data centers and other large customers to turn on back-up generators during this week’s heatwave.”

TechSpot: Big Tech’s $8 trillion AI bet is making consoles, cars, and electricity more expensive for everyone else. “The rapid build-out of artificial-intelligence infrastructure is no longer just a software story; it is increasingly a supply-chain story, and it is beginning to show up in higher costs. As tech giants pour hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure, higher hardware, power, and […]

Data Centre Insight: The Scarlet letter: How the EU’s new A-to-G energy stickers will expose underperforming data centres. “Imagine having your worst habits put on a billboard for everyone to see. Or wearing a huge, ruby red ‘A’ on your clothing. For years, data centres have kept their energy and water bills private, but this is about to change. The EU is rolling out new rules to grade data […]

Associated Press: AI is an energy and water hog, here’s what you can do to counter that. “Artificial intelligence and the data centers they require use growing amounts of energy and are water hogs — and AI companies aren’t transparent about how much of those resources they use, experts said. So each time you turn to the internet and seek an AI-fueled response, it’s gobbling up precious […]