US heatwave to test power grid amid soaring AI-driven energy demand

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A stretch of extreme heat is expected to intensify across much of the central and eastern parts of the country this week, peaking from Tuesday through Thursday. That heatwave is likely to continue through one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, as millions of Americans prepare for Fourth of July celebrations on Saturday. Temperatures this week are forecasted to climb above 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) from Boston to Washington, DC, pushing up demand for air conditioning. The heatwave coincides with two major events on the US calendar. Saturday’s holiday marks the 250th anniversary of the US’s independence, and millions are expected to gather for barbecues, parades and fireworks. The extreme temperatures also come as the FIFA World Cup has reached the knockout stage, with many host cities, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, expected to feel the heat. Humidity could push the heat index as high as 46 degrees Celsius (114 Fahrenheit) in some places, while overnight temperatures will offer little respite. The US’s largest regional grid operator, PMJ Interconnection, is forecasting record summer electrical demand of 166.3 gigawatts for Thursday evening, surpassing the previous summer peak set two decades ago, in 2006. The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the state’s grid operator, is also expecting electricity demand to approach record highs, while the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which covers 15 states in the Midwest and South, could also see its peak demand record challenged. Authorities at MISO say they will rely on PMJ for support in covering consumer needs. In a May report, PMJ’s executives warned of a “fundamental mismatch between how fast demand is growing and how quickly new supply can be built and connected to the grid”. New power plants, they said, now take twice as long to build and cost twice as much as they did a decade ago. Meanwhile, there has been increasing pressure on electrical grids from new technology like data centres and electric vehicles. In May, PMJ said hyperscale data centres were “adding load at an unprecedented pace”. Experts say the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is colliding with climate change, with tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude being processed in vast, energy-hungry data centres. The most energy-intensive are the hyperscale facilities that require between 100 and 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes. Many of those are concentrated in northern Virginia, which sits within PJM’s service territory and is widely described as the world’s largest data centre hub. Researchers have also identified what they call a “data heat island effect”, finding that land surface temperatures around AI data centres rise by an average of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), with some locations seeing increases of up to 9 degrees Celsius (16.2 degrees Fahrenheit). The National Weather Service in the US warns that long periods of extreme heat create significant stress on the body. It has urged people to limit outdoor activity, stay hydrated and keep close to air conditioning or cooling centres. A 2024 report from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that 21,518 deaths in the United States from 1999 to 2023 were heat-related. The highest number came in the final year of the report’s analysis, 2023. That year, 2,325 people died from causes attributed to high temperatures. 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