AI needs so much power, it's making yours worse

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-ai-power-home-appliances/

archived link: https://archive.ph/xDWTx

AI data centers are multiplying across the US and sucking up huge amounts of power. New evidence shows they may also be distorting the normal flow of electricity for millions of Americans. This map shows readings from about 770,000 home sensors, with red zones indicating areas with the most distorted power.

The problem is threatening billions in damage to home appliances and aging power equipment, especially in areas like Chicago and "data center alley" in Northern Virginia, where distorted power readings are above recommended levels.

An exclusive Bloomberg analysis shows that more than three-quarters of highly-distorted power readings across the country are within 50 miles of significant data center activity. While many facilities are popping up near major US cities and adding stress to already fragile grids, this trend holds true in rural areas as well.

(snip)

Experts have been warning for some time now about the impact data centers will have on power grids across the globe. The AI boom has only underscored the issue: The digital economy is sucking up so much power that demand is now straining available supplies of electricity in many parts of the world, leading to concerns over price increases and even widespread outages. And that’s only projected to worsen as more data centers are built.

[2naSalit]

1. Well here's a...

Question nobody seems to be asking;

Why do we need this tech and who asked for it? I suspect it's designed to facilitate the dumbing down of our people while jacking up the cost of living for all of us.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Some of us have been asking this for some time, but no one's listening.

I think they all have money stuffed in their ears -- or at least delusions of imagined profits.

[2naSalit]

6. Pretty sure...

You're right about that.

[dalton99a]

3. Pretty soon all power generated will go to AI and bitcoin mining

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Some political subdivisions are starting to react to this increasing trend of more and more power demanded by

these cyro power hogs in the art of discovering more cyber wealth via 'prospecting' using these power supplies and starting to demand that utilities set aside separate power supplies for these entities and/or that these entities set up their own power supplies.

Getting ridiculous.

[IcyPeas]

5. As Big Tech look for power sources for their AI data centers, they turn to crypto miners

Short 3 minute video at link. Trump is all in on this so it ain't going away.

As Big Tech companies look for power sources for their artificial intelligence

(AI) data centers, they turn to crypto miners. Both crypto and AI are power-intensive, demanding a significant amount of energy. Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita breaks down why bitcoin (BTC-USD) miners, like Hut 8 Mining (HUT), Hive Blockchain (HIVE), Bit Digital (BTBT), and Riot (RIOT), are selling existing power to AI hyperscalers.

To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here.


https://finance.yahoo.com/video/why-crypto-miners-selling-power-231625549.html

[2naSalit]

7. Not going away...

Unless we learn how to kill it ourselves.

[nmmi]

8. The "highly distorted" thing is caused by the harmonics --

From the linked article --

The term for the issue is “bad harmonics.” It may seem a bit esoteric, but you can think of it like the static that can be heard when a speaker’s volume is jacked up higher than it can handle. Electricity travels across high-voltage lines in waves, and when those wave patterns deviate from what’s considered ideal, it distorts the power that flows into homes. Bad harmonics can force home electronics to run hot, or even cause the motors in refrigerators and air conditioners to rattle. It’s an issue that can add up to billions of dollars in total damage.
More importantly, bad harmonics are symptomatic of much deeper problems that are engulfing the US grid.

AC power that is produced by generators and delivered to our homes is ideally in a smooth 60 hz wave (60 cycles per second). But it's not perfect -- the actual wave has some higher frequency and lower frequency components called harmonics. With the effect that the "smooth" wave is actually not so smooth.

And this about the size of the AI data center load:

For decades, US power use was largely flat. Now, it’s about to be turbocharged. The nation’s demand for electricity will surge almost 16% over the next five years, more than triple the estimate from a year ago, driven largely by new data centers, according to a recent report from Grid Strategies, a DC-based consulting firm.

(emphasis added)

[Blue Full Moon]

9. Tech Bros now are into building nuke plants

[LymphocyteLover]

10. I really hate this so much-- everything is getting enshittified

[nmmi]

11. It's deflation -- quality deflation /nt

[mopinko]

12. they shd b required to supply their own power.

either on site, or elsewhere, but in the same part of the grid.
same goes for water. dig wells, assholes.

[CoopersDad]

13. They have begun to do that.

San Jose plans to build a data center integrated with new housing development.

The power for data centers eventually becomes heat-- the heat can be captured and used for domestic water heating and space heating, thus displacing the need for gas or electricity for those purposes.

It's not a cure by any means, but it moves in the right direction.

PS, we all use data centers when we use Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft or Apple Cloud services, email, etc. etc.

Everyone on this discussion board is using data centers.

Those who single out Bitcoin and AI are missing the bigger picture.

Take care, Mo!

[nmmi]

14. Land too - "The Data-Center Boom Eats Up a Lot of Land. Atlanta Says It's Gone Too Far."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/the-data-center-boom-eats-up-a-lot-of-land-atlanta-says-it-s-gone-too-far/ar-AA1wC5eA
(Wall St Journal, 12/28/24, no paywall with this link)

. . . Data-center construction is growing faster in Atlanta than in just about any other major city. Measured by power capacity, it was up 76% in the metro area during the first half of 2024 compared with the same period a year prior, according to real-estate firm CBRE.

. . . Now, Atlanta is pushing back. More residents and lawmakers worry that the pace of data-center growth—and the amount of land and resources being devoted to it—has gone too far. They say it is starting to compete with more pressing real estate needs, like housing and retail stores.

. . . By 2028, the Atlanta metro’s data-center inventory will grow to a power load of more than 4,000 megawatts, more than 30 times the metro’s data center load in 2012, according to real-estate data firm Green Street.

. . . Nationally, the data-center sector has also flourished, even as property investor enthusiasm has waned for nearly every other type of real estate during this period of higher interest rates.

Total data-center inventory increased by an annual average of 43% during the years 2023 and 2024. That is compared with a less than 3% average increase in the total stock of multifamily buildings, hotels, self-storage and other property types over the same period, Green Street said.

. . .

[Blue_Tires]

15. AI is cancer 👎