A New Threat to Power Grids: Data Centers Unplugging at Once

I went through 12 bank AI research reports (1) last week and power was the one thesis that held up no matter where you stand on the productivity question. Barclays projects US data center power hitting 560 TWh by 2030, up from roughly 160 TWh now, about 13% of total electricity. Goldman says 60% of that needs net-new generation on a grid that averages 40 years old.

What this article gets at is that the volatility.. Steady demand growth you can plan for. Facilities that swing from full draw to near-zero faster than operators can rebalance, that's a different kind of stress entirely.

(1) https://philippdubach.com/posts/when-every-bulge-bracket-ban...

Gift link: https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/a-new-threat-to-powe...

Here in argentina we have an aluminium producer, they une like 90% of the power of an hidroelectric power plant. They coordinate the power use, to avoid similar problems. So ... this is not a new problem.

The electrical equivalent of the water hammer, what happens when everyone in California flushes their toilet at the same time?