US electricity demand is booming after years of stagnation, driven by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and electric vehicles and prompting warnings over the stability of the power grid.
Retail sales of electricity will total nearly 4bn kilowatt-hours this year, a record, the government’s energy analysis agency forecast this week. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a regulatory body, has sharply increased projections for peak power demand for the next decade, reversing steady or falling growth rates from previous years.
Expectations of greater power consumption come as extreme weather tests power networks around the country. A deep freeze due to sweep across the central US this weekend has put grid operators on high alert from Ohio to Texas.