Silicon Valley’s Coming Energy Crisis

Artificial intelligence will put pressure on the electric grid.

By Peter Huntsman. 

"The campaign to phase out fossil fuels is on a collision course with the artificial-intelligence revolution. Energy-intensive AI technologies are becoming more dependent on the electrical grid, which is largely powered by coal and natural gas. Oil, gas and pipeline companies hold the keys to Silicon Valley’s future. Yet access to cheap, reliable and abundant electricity powered by fossil fuels will soon pose a major risk to such businesses as Apple, Google and Microsoft.

The irony is that Big Tech helped give life to climate catastrophism and has advocated a net-zero energy transition. Silicon Valley techies for years have financed the political and cultural movement against the extraction, refinement and transportation of fossil fuels. Now, the brilliant minds that brought us semiconductor chips, iPhones and the internet will have to fight to fuel their latest innovations.

According to Goldman Sachs, AI is likely to drive a 160% increase in data-center power demand by 2030. Wind and solar power won’t be able to rise to the occasion—and much of AI’s physical infrastructure will need to be built in the U.S., rather than, say, China or India, owing to security concerns. Barring a rapid and unlikely build-out of domestic nuclear power, natural gas will power America’s AI future.

Climate activists tend to ignore the high financial and societal costs of their policies. If AI grows as expected and restrictive policies keep fossil-fuel production flat, it’s only logical that Big Tech will buy existing power-generating facilities and focus on producing renewable energy to satisfy its energy needs and green ambition. This increased demand for a limited supply of electricity will likely lead to higher costs and create electricity reliability issues for the broader public. In short, wealthy tech industry leaders might make it more difficult for poor and middle-class families to afford power bills.

Tech companies with trillion-dollar market capitalizations and nebulous carbon-credit schemes might be able to shrug at increased electricity costs, but households, small businesses, and manufacturers won’t have that luxury.

The dilemma offers an opportunity for Big Tech to get serious about the need for American-produced fossil fuels, energy efficiency, nuclear energy, and innovations to reduce emissions. Silicon Valley should use its influence to support permitting reform, pipeline construction and the approval of new chemicals that will drive AI to new heights. The collision can be averted, but there’s no time to waste.

Mr. Huntsman is chairman, president and CEO of Huntsman Corp., a publicly traded petrochemical manufacturer based in The Woodlands, Texas."