AI Power Demand Complicates Low-Carbon Goals, Dominion CEO Says
- Data centers make it harder to retire fossil-fuel plants
- Demand also spiking from new factories and electric vehicles
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The boom in power demand from data centers and artificial intelligence creates a conflict between maintaining a reliable grid and cutting carbon emissions, according to the head of Dominion Energy Inc.
“There’s a little bit of tension there because there’s not a lot of opportunities” in the near term to build zero-emissions generation that can be adjusted to match supply and consumption, Dominion Chief Executive Officer Bob Blue said. “Anything that’s driving demand is going to make it harder to retire existing fossil units. That’s just sort of basic physics.”