What Keeps Data Centers and Their Utility Partners Up at Night: The Power Problem

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What Keeps Data Centers and Their Utility Partners Up at Night: The Power Problem

AI has the potential to revolutionize how we manage the grid, marking a transformative shift in how utilities optimize operations, enhance reliability, and meet evolving consumer demands. Through the deployment of AI-driven algorithms and predictive analytics, utilities can anticipate grid dynamics, optimize energy flows, and proactively address challenges in real time. The integration of AI with cloud infrastructure further enhances efficiency and performance, enabling utilities to leverage vast amounts of data from diverse sources, including weather data, edge data, and advanced metering systems (AMS).

By leveraging machine learning and analytics to merge and assess data streams and sensored information, utilities can unlock new levels of efficiency and performance. The challenges of our power needs are so complex that a system will be best utilized to process the various permutations and uncertainties; this will need to be a highly sophisticated predictive tool, but if properly developed it can enhance grid equipment lifespans, apply data-driven decision making, identify issues quickly, and reduce unplanned downtime.

Utilities are increasingly recognizing the importance of leveraging AI to gain intimate insights into their customers’ energy needs and behaviors, allowing them to prepare for future power demands effectively. From improving customer experiences through innovative applications to reimagining day-to-day operations with self-healing grid technology, utilities are embracing AI to drive digital transformation and move beyond their traditional roles. This data-driven approach not only optimizes grid performance but also enhances customer experiences and drives digital transformation within the industry.

Strategic Grid Planning for Looming Demand

Part of the planning that worries them most is not just how to supply power to more data centers. At least data centers clue our local utilities in on our upcoming needs. Electric vehicles are altogether unpredictable, except for areas that have seen regulatory timelines enforced. They also tend to flock together, with charging stations handling many at a time. More than just consumer use, they have potential fleets being converted in bulk.

The proliferation of electric vehicles as well as data centers presents both challenges and opportunities for grid planners. Word on the street is that electrification of the transportation market will double energy usage in 10 years and lead to an 800% increase over the next 20 years. That’s the load that has them most worried, and calculating how many electric vehicles they can handle. They need to get uncomfortably close to what consumers and businesses are going to want in the future to predict and plan for this demand.

Strategic grid planning is essential to accommodate the surge in electricity demand while ensuring reliability and stability. Utilities are exploring innovative solutions such as smart charging infrastructure, vehicle-to-grid integration, and energy storage to manage peak demand and optimize resource utilization. With the exponential growth of EVs and data centers, grid planning has never been more critical. We must invest in scalable and resilient infrastructure to support this electrified future.

Embracing the Grid Edge and Prosumer Movement

The emergence of the prosumer movement and the evolution of the grid edge are reshaping the traditional utility-consumer relationship, transforming consumers from passive recipients to active participants in the energy transition. This shift is driven by the proliferation of rooftop solar, home energy storage, and distributed energy resources (DERs), highlighting the importance of grid-edge innovations and community energy initiatives.

Consumers are no longer merely consumers; they are prosumers actively shaping the energy landscape. Utilities must adapt to this transformation and empower consumers to become active stakeholders in the energy transition. At the grid edge, where consumers interact directly with energy systems, better data quality, validity, and granularity are achieved, leading to low latency, high reliability, and scalability. This proximity to data sources enables predictive infrastructure and empowers citizens to be part of the solution.

The path to edge intelligence involves various components, including metrology for energy, demand, and power quality, as well as anomaly detection for outage, temperature, loose neutral, and tampering. Despite existing limitations in edge technology, such as firmware-driven systems and communication bottlenecks, rapid advancements in hardware, communication protocols, and software are driving progress. Software deployed at the edge is customizable, agile, and driven by an application mindset, leveraging more advanced algorithms, especially in machine learning.

Overcoming challenges at the edge requires leveraging technologies that enable robust networks capable of making informed decisions and identifying various devices, such as EVs, solar panels, batteries, and pump controls. This necessitates funneling and utilizing data effectively to empower consumers to make informed energy decisions and optimize energy usage. Despite the complexities introduced by IP addresses and evolving technologies, the focus remains on enabling consumers to actively participate in the energy transition while ensuring the reliability and scalability of grid-edge solutions.

Renewable Energy Integration

Renewable energy integration is driving a significant transformation in the energy landscape, with solar and wind power playing increasingly prominent roles in the generation mix. Utilities are investing in renewable energy infrastructure, grid-scale energy storage, and innovative grid-edge technologies to maximize the potential of renewables and reduce carbon emissions.

With sustainability at the forefront of efforts, integrating renewable energy sources into the grid and leveraging advanced technologies are seen as crucial steps toward achieving environmental goals while ensuring reliability and affordability for customers. Last year, 84% of new installed capacity was renewables and storage, marking a substantial shift in the generation mix. Demand response, accounting for 60% of capacity, is becoming increasingly significant.

Orchestrating the energy transition requires flexible resources and demand-side capabilities, with virtual power plants (VPPs) emerging as cost-effective solutions. However, managing the transition poses challenges, particularly in forecasting net load, VPP capabilities, and battery capacity at scale. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are key applications that can help the industry navigate these transitions and keep moving forward.

Some companies are exploring off-grid solutions due to frustrations with traditional electricity networks. Off-grid technology, once frowned upon, is now considered a necessity for certain operations. Companies like Microsoft and Google are exploring options such as small nuclear plants and zero-emissions fusion power to power energy-intensive operations, although regulatory and land acquisition challenges remain significant hurdles in this endeavor.

Fostering Innovation and Scalability

In the midst of rapid change, utilities are recognizing the critical importance of innovation and scalability in navigating the evolving energy landscape. By fostering a culture of innovation, establishing strategic partnerships, and prioritizing scalability, utilities can unlock new opportunities for success and drive significant progress towards a smarter, more resilient grid.

To meet the challenges of tomorrow, it is essential to invest in cutting-edge technologies and scalable solutions. This proactive approach enables utilities to pioneer the power grid of the future while delivering tangible value to customers and communities alike.

As electrification continues to grow rapidly and new technologies emerge, such as nuclear energy, utilities are embracing innovative projects to enhance reliability and resiliency. For instance, there are some pretty cool utility-driven projects in my local area I’ve been following: Duke Energy’s floating solar project in South Florida and residential battery installations in neighborhoods like Hunter’s Creek exemplify the shift towards cleaner, more resilient energy solutions. Additionally, initiatives like the 100% green hydrogen project in DeBary, FL highlight the ongoing efforts to integrate renewable energy sources and drive sustainability forward.

Not Your Grandparents’ Power Grid

The pulse of energy shapes our present and affords our future. The job to be done itself has not changed over time: people need light and power. What has changed is the complexities that utility providers must navigate in the modern energy landscape: the convergence of AI, EV integration, grid-edge innovations, renewables, and scalable solutions are reshaping the trajectory of the power grid. By embracing these key themes and driving meaningful progress in each area, utilities can unlock new opportunities for growth, sustainability, and resilience, propelling the power grid into a new era of innovation and prosperity.

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NRF 2026: HPE expands network, server products for retailers

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Italy fines Cloudflare for refusing to block pirate sites

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Global tech-sector layoffs surpass 244,000 in 2025

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What enterprises think about quantum computing

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Oil Jumps as Iran Tensions Escalate

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Democrats Put Alaska Senate Seat in Play

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Trump Says He’s Inclined to Exclude XOM From Venezuela

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North America Adds Almost 100 Rigs Week on Week

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Intensity, Rainbow Near FID on North Dakota Gas Pipeline

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WoodMac Sees USA Tight Oil Output Shrinking in 2026

In an insight report released recently, analysts at Wood Mackenzie outlined that U.S. tight oil production “will shrink without a crash event for the first time” in 2026. “Holding oil production flat in the U.S. today requires over two million barrels per day of new supply,” the analysts said in the report. “We expect output to fall by 200,000 barrels per day in 2026 with WTI prices 20 percent lower than 2025,” they added. “This signal could change market mentality and bolster international conventional investment plans. But caution is still needed. That 2026 tight oil deficit is filled by Guyana alone, and U.S. liquids will return to growth in 2028,” the Wood Mackenzie analysts continued. In its latest short term energy outlook (STEO) at the time of writing, which was released back in December 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that Lower 48 States crude oil production, including lease condensate and excluding the Gulf of America, would drop from an average of 11.29 million barrels per day in 2025 to an average of 11.11 million barrels per day in 2026. This production came in at 11.03 million barrels per day in 2024, the EIA’s December STEO highlighted. Total U.S. crude oil production, including lease condensate, was projected to drop from an average of 13.61 million barrels per day in 2025 to an average of 13.53 million barrels per day in 2026 in that STEO. Total U.S. crude oil output, including lease condensate, averaged 13.23 million barrels per day in 2024, the EIA’s latest STEO at the time of writing showed. The EIA’s next STEO is scheduled to be released on January 13. In the Wood Mackenzie report, the analysts also predicted a shale gas “renaissance” in the U.S. this year. “As LNG FIDs have come thick and fast,

AI, edge, and security: Shaping the need for modern infrastructure management

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DCF Poll: Analyzing AI Data Center Growth

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JLL’s 2026 Global Data Center Outlook: Navigating the AI Supercycle, Power Scarcity and Structural Market Transformation

Sovereign AI and National Infrastructure Policy JLL frames artificial intelligence infrastructure as an emerging national strategic asset, with sovereign AI initiatives representing an estimated $8 billion in cumulative capital expenditure by 2030. While modest relative to hyperscale investment totals, this segment carries outsized strategic importance. Data localization mandates, evolving AI regulation, and national security considerations are increasingly driving governments to prioritize domestic compute capacity, often with pricing premiums reaching as high as 60%. Examples cited across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Asia underscore a consistent pattern: digital sovereignty is no longer an abstract policy goal, but a concrete driver of data center siting, ownership structures, and financing models. In practice, sovereign AI initiatives are accelerating demand for locally controlled infrastructure, influencing where capital is deployed and how assets are underwritten. For developers and investors, this shift introduces a distinct set of considerations. Sovereign projects tend to favor jurisdictional alignment, long-term tenancy, and enhanced security requirements, while also benefiting from regulatory tailwinds and, in some cases, direct state involvement. As AI capabilities become more tightly linked to economic competitiveness and national resilience, policy-driven demand is likely to remain a durable (if specialized) component of global data center growth. Energy and Sustainability as the Central Constraint Energy availability emerges as the report’s dominant structural constraint. In many major markets, average grid interconnection timelines now extend beyond four years, effectively decoupling data center development schedules from traditional utility planning cycles. As a result, operators are increasingly pursuing alternative energy strategies to maintain project momentum, including: Behind-the-meter generation Expanded use of natural gas, particularly in the United States Private-wire renewable energy projects Battery energy storage systems (BESS) JLL points to declining battery costs, seen falling below $90 per kilowatt-hour in select deployments, as a meaningful enabler of grid flexibility, renewable firming, and

SoftBank, DigitalBridge, and Stargate: The Next Phase of OpenAI’s Infrastructure Strategy

OpenAI framed Stargate as an AI infrastructure platform; a mechanism to secure long-duration, frontier-scale compute across both training and inference by coordinating capital, land, power, and supply chain with major partners. When OpenAI announced Stargate in January 2025, the headline commitment was explicit: an intention to invest up to $500 billion over four to five years to build new AI infrastructure in the U.S., with $100 billion targeted for near-term deployment. The strategic backdrop in 2025 was straightforward. OpenAI’s model roadmap—larger models, more agents, expanded multimodality, and rising enterprise workloads—was driving a compute curve increasingly difficult to satisfy through conventional cloud procurement alone. Stargate emerged as a form of “control plane” for: Capacity ownership and priority access, rather than simply renting GPUs. Power-first site selection, encompassing grid interconnects, generation, water access, and permitting. A broader partner ecosystem beyond Microsoft, while still maintaining a working relationship with Microsoft for cloud capacity where appropriate. 2025 Progress: From Launch to Portfolio Buildout January 2025: Stargate Launches as a National-Scale Initiative OpenAI publicly launched Project Stargate on Jan. 21, 2025, positioning it as a national-scale AI infrastructure initiative. At this early stage, the work was less about construction and more about establishing governance, aligning partners, and shaping a public narrative in which compute was framed as “industrial policy meets real estate meets energy,” rather than simply an exercise in buying more GPUs. July 2025: Oracle Partnership Anchors a 4.5-GW Capacity Step On July 22, 2025, OpenAI announced that Stargate had advanced through a partnership with Oracle to develop 4.5 gigawatts of additional U.S. data center capacity. The scale of the commitment marked a clear transition from conceptual ambition to site- and megawatt-level planning. A figure of this magnitude reshaped the narrative. At 4.5 GW, Stargate forced alignment across transformers, transmission upgrades, switchgear, long-lead cooling

Lenovo unveils purpose-built AI inferencing servers

There is also the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650i, which offers high-density GPU computing power for faster AI inference and is intended for easy installation in existing data centers to work with existing systems. Finally, there is the Lenovo ThinkEdge SE455i for smaller, edge locations such as retail outlets, telecom sites, and industrial facilities. Its compact design allows for low-latency AI inference close to where data is generated and is rugged enough to operate in temperatures ranging from -5°C to 55°C. All of the servers include Lenovo’s Neptune air- and liquid-cooling technology and are available through the TruScale pay-as-you-go pricing model. In addition to the new hardware, Lenovo introduced new AI Advisory Services with AI Factory Integration. This service gives access to professionals for identifying, deploying, and managing best-fit AI Inferencing servers. It also launched Premier Support Plus, a service that gives professional assistance in data center management, freeing up IT resources for more important projects.

Samsung warns of memory shortages driving industry-wide price surge in 2026

SK Hynix reported during its October earnings call that its HBM, DRAM, and NAND capacity is “essentially sold out” for 2026, while Micron recently exited the consumer memory market entirely to focus on enterprise and AI customers. Enterprise hardware costs surge The supply constraints have translated directly into sharp price increases across enterprise hardware. Samsung raised prices for 32GB DDR5 modules to $239 from $149 in September, a 60% increase, while contract pricing for DDR5 has surged more than 100%, reaching $19.50 per unit compared to around $7 earlier in 2025. DRAM prices have already risen approximately 50% year to date and are expected to climb another 30% in Q4 2025, followed by an additional 20% in early 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. The firm projected that DDR5 64GB RDIMM modules, widely used in enterprise data centers, could cost twice as much by the end of 2026 as they did in early 2025. Gartner forecast DRAM prices to increase by 47% in 2026 due to significant undersupply in both traditional and legacy DRAM markets, Chauhan said. Procurement leverage shifts to hyperscalers The pricing pressures and supply constraints are reshaping the power dynamics in enterprise procurement. For enterprise procurement, supplier size no longer guarantees stability. “As supply becomes more contested in 2026, procurement leverage will hinge less on volume and more on strategic alignment,” Rawat said. Hyperscale cloud providers secure supply through long-term commitments, capacity reservations, and direct fab investments, obtaining lower costs and assured availability. Mid-market firms rely on shorter contracts and spot sourcing, competing for residual capacity after large buyers claim priority supply.

Microsoft will invest $80B in AI data centers in fiscal 2025

And Microsoft isn’t the only one that is ramping up its investments into AI-enabled data centers. Rival cloud service providers are all investing in either upgrading or opening new data centers to capture a larger chunk of business from developers and users of large language models (LLMs). In a report published in October 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated that demand for generative AI would push Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Apple would between them devote $200 billion to capex in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2023. Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders, followed closely by Google and AWS, Bloomberg Intelligence said. Its estimate of Microsoft’s capital spending on AI, at $62.4 billion for calendar 2025, is lower than Smith’s claim that the company will invest $80 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, 2025. Both figures, though, are way higher than Microsoft’s 2020 capital expenditure of “just” $17.6 billion. The majority of the increased spending is tied to cloud services and the expansion of AI infrastructure needed to provide compute capacity for OpenAI workloads. Separately, last October Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his company planned total capex spend of $75 billion in 2024 and even more in 2025, with much of it going to AWS, its cloud computing division.

John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle

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