Utilities in the Southeast may be overestimating the AI boom

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station.

As more and more data centers crop up throughout Georgia and the Southeast, a recent study finds they may need less energy than the industry and utilities have been predicting. That could have substantial implications for energy bills and the planet.

Data centers — especially the biggest ones, known as hyperscalers, used for high-powered computing like generative AI — use a lot of energy.