Grid Row

It’s time to gird your lines. Computers have come for our attention, our jobs, and our social interactions. And now the computers are coming for the one thing we need to run computers: our energy. The demands of artificial intelligence and other heavy-energy users dominating our cloud are sucking up resources at an unprecedented pace, and the utility players can’t keep up. “The situation is sparking battles across the nation over who will pay for new power supplies, with regulators worrying that residential ratepayers could be stuck with the bill for costly upgrades. It also threatens to stifle the transition to cleaner energy, as utility executives lobby to delay the retirement of fossil fuel plants and bring more online. The power crunch imperils their ability to supply the energy that will be needed to charge the millions of electric cars and household appliances required to meet state and federal climate goals.” WaPo (Gift Article) with latest current events: Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power. Living off the grid seems more romantic when it’s a choice.