“The Texas grid operator published a dramatic projection for power demand through 2032, based on proposed data-center construction in the state, implying that peak electricity usage would have to quadruple from current levels,” reports Bloomberg News:
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said peak demand may reach 367,790 megawatts in six years, a vast increase from the all-time peak of 85,508 megawatts reached in August 2023. Data centers will account for more than 60% of the projected increase…
That magnitude of demand growth has never been seen before on a single US grid and would require the equivalent of adding almost 300 large nuclear reactors. The grid operator said in an email that the projection is a “preliminary snapshot and not a prediction”….Ercot’s base forecast for 2032 is 111,318 megawatts….Texas is facing “exceptional growth” across sectors, Ercot Chief Executive Officer Pablo Vegas said
Ercot’s latest forecast demonstrates how grid operators, utilities and regulators are struggling to figure out how to cope with a rush of data-center proposals.
Some observers, such as Travis Kavulla of Base Power, said Ercot’s projection was unrealistic, and electricity use will not increase that much.
Data centers can drive up electric bills, but they also reduce property taxes in areas that have a lot of them. Residents of Loudoun County, Virginia, have saved more on their property taxes due to the presence of data centers, than they have paid in higher electric bills.
Building even 30 new nuclear reactors by 2032 would be very difficult. The approval process for nuclear plants is very slow and expensive. The Energy Department recently relaxed its rules for nuclear plants, but that only applies to nuclear plants on land owned by the Energy Department, not private property, which is subject to more cumbersome rules imposed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission makes it very expensive to construct a nuclear plant — even the application process is incredibly expensive and can take years of unnecessary delay. Even when nuclear plants are already operating safely and providing badly needed power, anti-nuclear activists sometimes get government officials to shut them down.
Right now, nuclear energy produces about 19% of the electricity generated in America. Nuclear energy produces no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollution. Nuclear plants generate most electric power in countries like France and Slovakia, but in the U.S., it has been much more difficult and costly to construct a nuclear power plant.
A sodium-cooled nuclear power plant was recently approved in Wyoming. “Sodium cooling allows reactors to operate at higher temperatures and lower pressures than conventional water-cooled plants, which can improve efficiency. The design will also include thermal storage, allowing the reactor to store energy as heat during periods of low demand,” reports The Doomslayer.
A nuclear plant in Florida is helping crocodiles thrive. Russia signed an agreement with Ethiopia to build a nuclear power plant.
