ByAnna Demeo,
Contributor.
Rising electricity demand from AI data centers and electric vehicles threatens the resiliency of an already strained power grid. But supplying the added demand with the existing grid, an architecture first designed to power lightbulbs, is like eating soup with a fork — you can do it, but there’s a better way.
Ironically, the better way is arguably how Thomas Edison designed the first U.S. commercial power plant back in 1882, which was with direct current electricity that flows in one direction like water through a hose.
AI data centers require massive, concentrated power. What’s at stake is whether the grid can economically support this next era of electrification. Data center server racks run on direct current, even though the utility grid delivers alternating current. That mismatch introduces repeated power conversions, adding cost, complexity and energy loss at a time when utilities and operators are under pressure to deliver more capacity, faster.
