New Silicon Valley Data Centers Will Ramp Up Electricity Use
- PG&E expects 3.5 gigawatts of extra electricity demand
- Artificial intelligence is causing major power demand spike
An explosion of data centers in Silicon Valley will drive an uptick in energy demand.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergNew data centers planned for Silicon Valley have the potential to add 3.5 gigawatts of demand for electricity, PG&E Corp. said. That’s more than the output of three nuclear power plants.
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the eight primary data center markets in the US given its proximity to the headquarters of global technology giants that include the likes of Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. There are more than two dozen projects in the works over the next five years, executives with the California utility said during an investor presentation on Wednesday. More than half of the additional capacity will be located in the San Jose area, PG&E said.