How AI is Affecting Energy Demand
Have you ever tripped a circuit breaker or had to reset an outlet strip?
You might have had your computer, printer, lamp—maybe even a coffee maker—all plugged into one power strip. Then you add a small heater, and suddenly, everything shuts down. The cause? Too much power (kWh) being drawn, which trips the breaker or thermal reset.
Now image that on a larger scale.
NVIDIA chips (or their equivalents), which power AI centers, consume around 200 watts each when operating. Companies like Amazon, IBM, Meta, Tesla, and Microsoft are planning to install millions of these chips. NVIDIA alone expects to ship 6 million chips by mid-2026.
The power demands for these chips are significant.
Consider 6 million NVDIA chips running 24/7 for one year is 36,792,000,000,000 kWh
In 2022 that energy represents.
• 6% of the entire US energy consumed
• 20% of the entire state of Illinois energy
• 43% of ComEd energy
Plugging in 43% demand into ComEd would blow a few circuit breakers! This doesn’t take into consideration all the computers trying to access the results of these new AI centers.
The consideration of creating such energy intensity in such a short time frame is having profound impact on energy utilities in the United States. Beyond generating power is the distribution of that power and the emissions of that energy production.
Solar and wind energy sources are the most economical and quickest to deploy choices, however they may not be considered due to political considerations.
Power demands cannot be met by issuing press releases. They take serious planning and billions of dollars in expenditure.
When you make your next Chat GPT query consider the power needs to deliver that answer.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer serving commercial customers in the states of Illinois, and Indiana. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 11 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information:
Electricity data browser – Net generation for all fuels (utility-scale)
Everything You Need to Know About Nvidia H200 GPUs
Mizuho Analysts Raise Nvidia AI GPU Shipment Forecast for 2025 – EconoTimes
