"While data center investment is growing quickly, so are the energy requirements for newer facilities. The immense amounts of power needed for data centers for Big Tech firms like Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon Web Services are testing the limits of energy grids...Driven by the need to power new AI technologies, developing these mega-data center campuses is leading to creative approaches for tech firms to acquire power and closer collaboration between the data center industry and energy companies to ensure the grid holds up. "

The outlet notes that: hyperscale data centers have grown over the past several years from dozens of megawatts to hundreds, and some tech firms are looking for sites to power more than a gigawatt of capacity. To put that into perspective, one gigawatt is sufficient to provide a full year of energy to about 900,000 households, about the size of a major U.S. city.

“These facilities are notorious energy hogs, consuming up to 50 times more power than the typical commercial building. If the data center boom is to continue, innovations must be made in how they’re designed and built,” according to the article.