Data Centers Panel

Data Centers Panel “Data Centers. The pros and cons and what it means for you, the residential customers.

Monday June 16th, 2025 | 8:30am – 10am

Venue USMSM – Center Hall, Building 2

Moderator: Scott White, TPP Board Director, President/CEO HTii

Panelists:

• Lael Campbell, Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Constellation
• Sonja Cox, President and Chief Executive Officer, SMECO
• Brad Frome, Rise Investment Partners
• Rosa Nance, Independent Advocate
• Martin Rapos, Chief Information Officer at FLEXNODE

Information on AI and Energy pertaining to Data Centers, from the recently published report by the International Energy Agency:

• A typical AI-focused data center consumes as much electricity as 100 000 households, but the largest ones under construction today will consume 20 times as much.
• Global investment in data centers has nearly doubled since 2022 and amounted to half a trillion dollars in 2024.
• Data centers accounted for around 1.5% of the world’s electricity consumption in 2024, or 415 terawatt-hours (TWh)
• Nearly half of data center capacity in the United States is in five regional clusters. The sector accounts for substantial shares of electricity consumption in local markets.
• Data centre electricity consumption is set to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030, AI is the most important driver of this growth
• The United States accounts for by far the largest share of this projected increase, followed by China. In the United States, data centers account for nearly half of electricity demand growth between now and 2030. By the end of the decade, the country is set to consume more electricity for data centers than for the production of aluminum, steel, cement, chemicals and all other energy-intensive goods combined.
• Half of the global growth in data center demand is met by renewables, supported by storage and the broader electricity grid. Renewables generation is projected to grow by over 450 TWh to meet data center demand to 2035.
• Electricity grids are already under strain in many places: we estimate that unless these risks are addressed, around 20% of planned data center projects could be at risk of delays.
• 50% of data centers under development in the United States are in pre-existing large clusters, potentially raising risks of local bottlenecks
• The supply chains for the components going into data centers are complex and globalized. For example, gallium is an increasingly critical metal used in cutting-edge computer chips and power electronics, offering significant efficiency benefits compared with traditional silicon- based semiconductor designs. China currently accounts for around 99% of global refined gallium supply. Our estimates indicate that in 2030, demand for gallium for data centers could reach over 10% of today’s supply..