AI Boom Sends U.S. Electricity Demand to New High

U.S. electricity consumption set a new record high last year and is on track for new all-time highs this year and next, as the AI boom has ended America’s decade of stagnant power use. Rising electrification rates are partly responsible for the higher power demand, but the AI boom and the data centers that support it are the key drivers of growing electricity demand and will remain so over the next few years. As power demand grows, generation is also increasing to record highs, with natural gas remaining the mainstay of the U.S. power mix.…