An insufficient electric vehicle (EV) charging structure has been a key reason why many people have been hesitant to let of their gas-powered cars. People want peace of mind when they’re on the road, and the idea of running out of power in a place where there’s no EV charging station in sight can be a scary one.
With that in mind, the solution sounds simple — build more EV charging stations and reduce drivers’ “range anxiety.” The only problem with that fix is whether or not enough electricity exists in the U.S. to power these stations has suddenly come into question, according to the Washington Post.
Currently, large parts of the U.S. could run short on power because data centers and clean technology factories are eating up a lot of the available electricity. Meanwhile, utilities and regulators are desperately seeking credible plans to increase the nation’s shrinking power grid.
The pending power outage is impacting various parts of the U.S. For example, Georgia’s industrial power demand is reaching record highs — new electricity use in the state is projected be 17 times higher than it’s been just recently. Meanwhile, Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest utility, has said it is struggling to meet demand and projects it will run out of transmission capacity prior to the end of the decade unless it gets major upgrades.
In northern Virginia, the equivalent of multiple large nuclear power plants is needed to serve all of the new data centers that are planned and under construction The Washington Post reports. Texas faces similar troubles as the state already deals with electricity shortages on hot days.
The problem is the older power grid can’t keep up with rising demand for electricity. Customers are going as far as building their own power plants in order to create more energy sources.
“When you look at the numbers, it is staggering,” Jason Shaw, chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates electricity, told The Washington Post. “It makes you scratch your head and wonder how we ended up in this situation. How were the projections that far off? This has created a challenge like we have never seen before.”
Why the U.S. is losing electricity
Artificial intelligence’s (AI) fast emergence is one of main reasons demand for electricity has gotten so great, The Washington Post reports. As AI grows, so does large warehouse construction, which houses computing infrastructure. These warehouses require much more power than traditional data centers, and tech giants such as Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are constantly searching the U.S. for new data center sites — as well as smaller firms.
Meanwhile, crypto-mining, where currencies like bitcoin are transacted and minted, is also leading to more data centers, and in turn more pressure on the power grid. This activity is creating backups in the grid and new energy generators, clean energy especially, as well as large consumers are left facing increased wait times for hookups.
How a power shortage impacts the EV market
EV manufacturers already face an uphill battle in getting people to shift to their product. Concerns that there might not be enough electricity available to power up their car will make sales that much more difficult to come by. A power shortage hampers the ability to supply the energy that is required to charge millions of EVs as well has household appliances needed to meet state and federal climate goals — a fact the utility executives lobby look to use delay fossil fuel plants’ retirement, The Washington Post reports.
Meanwhile, these shortages come at a time when the Biden Administration’s industrial policy is enticing companies to build factories in the U.S.— including “clean tech” manufacturers such as EV batteries and solar panels. Companies have announced plans to build or expand more than 155 factories in the U.S. during the first half of the Biden Administration, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, a research and development organization. Such rapid growth has led to projections that there will need to be twice as much power available during the next five years, according to a review of regulatory filings by the research firm Grid Strategies.
Officials overseeing the clean energy transition at some of the largest U.S. airports are already exploring options outside of the power grid, The Washington Post reports. They recognize that it will take an immense amount of energy to charge electric rental cars and ground maintenance trucks. Electricity demand is estimated to double at Denver and Minneapolis airports by 2023 and triple by 2040, per a study commissioned by car rental company Enterprise, Xcel Energy and Jacobs, a consulting firm.
“Utilities are not going to be able to move quickly enough to provide all this capacity,” said Christine Weydig, vice president of transportation at AlphaStruxure, which designs and operates clean-energy projects. “The infrastructure is not there. Different solutions will be needed.”
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