Soaring US Power Demand Poses Climate Challenge for Utilities

For decades, power companies operated on a calm sea of steady-to-declining demand and a power grid that largely met expectations with century-old technology and predictable growth.

Today, data centers powering artificial intelligence, electrified transportation fleets, and homeowners buying into electric appliances and heating are all clamoring for power at a breakneck pace, energy trade association chiefs said Tuesday.

“It’s a completely different world,” said Dan Brouillette, a former energy secretary who was recently tapped as president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, a trade association representing investor-owned electric utilities.

Three decades ago, utility executives would have “fairly routine” conversations ...