Digital economy drives surge in electricity demand as tech giants invest in renewable energy for data centers.

The digital economy is rapidly growing, making electricity a growth industry after years of flat demand. Nvidia, the maker of high-end artificial intelligence chips, is urging its cloud-computing customers, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta, to source power for data centers in the US and Europe. Microsoft has agreed to buy over 10 gigawatts of renewable energy, equivalent to 10 large nuclear reactors, and West Texas could see energy demand double due to data centers and cryptocurrency miners. McKinsey predicts that data center load will rise from 19,000 megawatts in 2023 to 35,000 MW by the end of the decade, the same as plugging over 11 million homes into the power grid. However, this growth could pose challenges for utilities and regional power grid operators. Experts suggest that the transition to high-powered computing is at an early stage, but it’s an opportunity for companies and tech giants to learn before they settle into steeper growth curves.