How AI’s Energy Demands Fuel the Climate Crisis

Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon. Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Texas’ electrical grid made national headlines in the winter of 2021 when the state experienced statewide power outages. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s power grid operator, was caught completely off-guard when a winter storm exposed the organization’s lack of severe weather preparedness. Embarrassed, ERCOT developed a roadmap to increase the reliabilityof its energy delivery system.