Will AI Break The Grid? It Depends On How We Use Every Electron

BusinessEnergyWill AI Break The Grid? It Depends On How We Use Every ElectronByAnna Broughel,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about green energy tech that will change your life.Follow AuthorMay 31, 2026, 04:12am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.A newly constructed data center in Middenmeer, the Netherlands. gettyAfter years of relatively flat power consumption in many advanced economies, utilities are revising load forecasts upward, and data centers are competing for grid connections. In Northern Virginia, in the data center valley, it might take 14 years for a data center to gain access to the grid. Yet, the electrons are needed now. Many pundits fear: AI will break the grid.This argument misses one important feature of electric systems: demand growth also drives adaptation. Electricity demand is far from a fixed number that utilities simply need to satisfy by simply adding more power plants. New generation will be needed, but modern power systems also adapt through efficiency improvements, short- and long-term storage, demand flexibility, and better utilization of existing infrastructure.I sat down with leaders at Delta Electronics, Eaton, and DNV to understand how the energy industry is responding to the growth of AI. The answer extends beyond building new power plants: improving efficiency before electricity reaches the chip, rethinking how data centers cool and recover energy, and solving the grid bottlenecks that determine how quickly new demand can be connected.Connecting Data Centers to the Grid Currently Takes YearsAli Ghorashi, Senior Vice President at DNV, has spent years evaluating energy projects from the perspective of technical risk and project finance, from onshore and offshore wind to transmission, storage, hydrogen, and other emerging technologies. He sees the current moment as different from previous wav...