70% of the power grid access and transmission and distribution facilities in the United States are aging and backward, and power grid transmission lines in some areas are even seriously insufficient. This not only makes it difficult for clean electricity such as "wind and light" to be efficiently connected to the grid, but even makes it impossible to achieve efficient transmission.

"The United States is now in a chip shortage, then there will be a transformer shortage, and there will be a power shortage in the future." Tesla founder and CEO Musk publicly stated recently. As artificial intelligence and Bitcoin mining become increasingly popular, the industry seems to have foreseen a cruel reality, that is, the U.S. power system simply cannot support these new technologies, and the high energy consumption crisis it brings has uncovered the "fig leaf" of the U.S. power grid.

Electricity demand may hit a new high this summer

The North American Electric Reliability Association recently released the latest long-term reliability assessment forecast. Artificial intelligence, bitcoin mining, etc. are exacerbating the shortage of power supply in the United States. This summer, U.S. electricity demand may reach its highest level since 2016, while winter demand may reach its highest level since at least 2015. The North American Electric Reliability Association pointed out that as more and more fossil-fuel power generation installations are retired, power growth will become increasingly challenging. If extreme temperatures occur in the summer, the United States will experience another massive power outage. The U.S. Energy Information Administration regards artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and electric vehicles as the three major drivers of the surge in U.S. power demand. In its report, it predicts that U.S. power demand will increase to 4.099 billion kilowatt-hours in 2024 and will increase to 4.128 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025. In contrast, power consumption in 2023 will be 4 trillion kilowatt-hours, with the previous record being 4 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2018. The Washington Post quoted Andy Wingros, general manager of data center marketing at Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate consulting firm, as saying:"Power companies are not ready and unclear how to deal with the power surge. In fact, we have never faced electricity demand on this scale before." Grid Strategy Consulting pointed out that power utilities and grid operators have adjusted their annual electricity demand growth forecasts for the next five years to approximately 1.5%, the highest level since 1990. It is understood that 70% of the power grid access and transmission and distribution facilities in the United States are aging and backward, and power grid transmission lines in some areas are even seriously insufficient. This not only makes it difficult for clean electricity such as "wind and light" to be efficiently connected to the grid, but even makes it impossible to achieve efficient transmission. Granlinch, founder of the U.S. Power Grid Strategy Consulting Company, said that the United States needs to invest at least US$20 billion every year to build new long-distance transmission lines. If the power grid does not undergo large-scale modernization and upgrading, the United States will face an irreparable power gap by 2030. "Based on our forecasts for peak summer electricity use, the United States will soon face rolling blackouts if infrastructure improvements continue to be delayed." He emphasized.

Artificial intelligence consumes huge electricity

"We can't just think about computing power, but need to consider energy consumption more comprehensively. If we only think about computers, we need to burn the energy of 14 planets. Super artificial intelligence will become a bottomless pit for power demand." Huang Renxun, CEO of U.S. technology giant Nvidia and artificial intelligence technology expert, publicly warned.

Artificial intelligence technology relies on a large number of server-based data centers and high-performance computing, so it consumes a lot of power. By 2030, U.S. data center power consumption will quadruple to 390 terawatt hours from 2022, equivalent to 7.5% of national electricity demand, according to BCG. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, a US artificial intelligence research company, says the world needs energy breakthroughs such as nuclear fusion if artificial intelligence is to reach its full potential. Schneider Electric estimates that by 2028, artificial intelligence centers will account for 15% of the total power consumption of data centers. 20%. Take, for example, the training of the GPT-3 big language model, which produces about 552 tons of carbon dioxide when it consumes up to 1287 megawatts of electricity, which is equivalent to the carbon emissions of 123 fuel vehicles driving for a year. According to Digital Economist, a website on digital money and blockchain technology, artificial intelligence servers are heavy power-consuming devices, and one Nvidia DGX A100 server consumes as much electricity as several American homes combined, which means that powering millions of such devices can easily overload the grid.

Bitcoin mining increases power supply pressure

At the same time, the Bitcoin mining sector has entered a period of rapid development, posing a greater challenge to the power supply capacity of the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, bitcoin mining in the United States accounts for 0.6% of annual electricity consumption in the United States, equivalent to 3 million to 6 million households a year. So far, Bitcoin mining shows no sign of slowing in the United States. The Digital Economist estimates that Bitcoin mining consumes 148.63 terawatt hours of electricity a year, equivalent to Malaysia's national electricity consumption, and emits 82.9 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to Bangladesh's annual carbon emissions. In fact, tracking bitcoin mining is not easy because it is difficult to identify bitcoin mining activities and the dynamic nature of bitcoin mining among a large number of power end users. In the Bitcoin market, mining assets can be quickly transferred to areas with lower electricity prices. As mining continues to surge, the US government is increasingly concerned about the negative impact of this energy-intensive activity, including grid pressure at peak demand, the possibility of higher electricity prices and the impact on energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. At present, US power grid operators have expressed concern about the rapid growth in electricity demand related to bitcoin mining. The North American Power Reliability Association pointed out that the growth in Bitcoin mining could have a significant impact on power demand and resource forecasts as well as grid system operations.