, Columnist
AI Needs a BYOG Model to Keep Power Bills Down
Who picks up the tab?
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North AmericaPJM is the name given to the largest regional US electricity grid, stretching from Chicago to the Chesapeake. It is also synonymous with the AI-power surge, being home to Virginia’s ‘datacenter alley’ and seeing recent big increases in bills tied to concerns that the electricity needs of artificial intelligence will swamp supply.
PJM has just undergone a week of whiplash, beginning with a cut to its projections of electricity demand — which you might think would ease those concerns — and ending with that reliable indicator of bubbling angst, a White House plan, followed by what looks like an actual plan from the grid operator itself.