Expert highlights AI impact on power demand
MCF Newsroom Reports
Energy and technology expert Mark Mills delivered a compelling address at the Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s annual meeting last week, focusing on the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in driving unprecedented energy demand.
Mills drew on his book, The Cloud Revolution, to explain how AI and cloud computing are reshaping the energy landscape, challenging utilities to adapt to rapid technological advancements.
Mills, who launched a national energy think tank since his last appearance at Basin Electric seven years ago, framed his speech around the principles of forecasting, emphasizing the interplay of physics, economics, and human behavior. He argued that technology, particularly AI, is a key driver of economic growth and energy consumption, dismissing notions of an imminent energy transition away from hydrocarbons.
“There’s never been an energy transition, and there isn’t one underway,” Mills stated. “Global per capita use of coal, gas, and oil has either increased or remained steady despite decades of investment in alternatives.”
Mills emphasized the point with an analogy, highlighting the virtual impossibility of mining the quantity of raw materials the would be needed to manufacture enough wind turbines and solar panels to power the economy.
The speech highlighted the staggering energy needs of AI-driven data centers, which Mills described as a defining feature of the “roaring 2020s.” He noted that a single gigawatt data center, such as those being built by xAI, consumes as much natural gas daily as a SpaceX Starship launch.
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