I don't know about USA, but here in UK people are opting to feed their children rather than heat their homes, and we have "warm places" - community centres and schools which by law had to heat the building, opening them up after activities for anyone to come in and keep warm and charge their phones.
I have to admit that people can't afford to eat, so egg prices are certainly an issue. But politicians can and do gaslight "everyone else has cheap food, your personal experience should be ignored". With electricity and gasoline, we know it's pretty much the same within a few % all over the country, so we know we can project our experience onto everyone else.
It's the unfairness that gets to people. In UK and europe, the electricity market is based on marginal pricing - the price of the electricity getting to your home is based on the most expensive generator used for that half-hour of power (if it's gas at £1,600 per MWh (£1.60 or around $2 per kWh or domestic unit) then all the electricity, from suppliers happy to supply at £59 per MWh, nuclear at around £80, all gets priced at £1,600. If we just paid the price the generator asked for, they would be happy (that was the price they asked for) and the average price would be much lower!
The unprecedented new energy demand is based on unsubstantiated claims of the vital importance of AI. There are a lot of special interest groups poised to make a lot of money on the fad.
If the AI industry needs power, then they can pay all the costs for the needed energy, including infrastructure and elevated fuel cost caused by their unprecedented claimed needs.
"unsubstantiated claims of the vital importance of AI" Definitely fair for us to be constantly questioning how long-lasting these tools will be, how they will evolve, what role they're ultimately take etc. And the rate of announced new data centers for meeting those needs definitely outpace the rate of them actually being built. But in many ways it's not prudent for us to wait around and see what will happen before planning now.
And either way, the truth is: people are angry now about energy prices. Maybe part of that is from data centers, but it's certainly not solely from this new source of demand. So what can we do in the meantime? And what can we learn from the stories being told right now from that consternation?
The claimed AI energy needs far outstrip historical demand. That cannot help but have major ramifications in the price of energy.
Seems to me if the AI industry needs unprecedented amounts of energy, then they should pay the cost, not the average ratepayer. The financial ball should rest entirely with the AI industry. It’s not like they cannot afford the cost; they are simply trying to get someone else to foot the bill. The regulators and politicians should insist on fairness and not be bought off by the AI lobby.
So, bringing it back to the point of the article, I suppose you would label the 2020s 'eggs' to be inflated energy costs / artificially-high AI investment? Will be interesting to see how the history records look back on this time, for sure!
The early data center energy needs have morphed into AI driven new demands for huge, unprecedented amounts of energy. Therein lies the problem. Building the required generation and infrastructure is very expensive. Those demanding such unprecedented amounts of new energy should pay the bill. Seems eminently fair to me.
As far as the benefits versus downside, I think that remains to be seen. Keep thinking back to the Terminator with control out of mankind’s hands.
I don't know about USA, but here in UK people are opting to feed their children rather than heat their homes, and we have "warm places" - community centres and schools which by law had to heat the building, opening them up after activities for anyone to come in and keep warm and charge their phones.
I have to admit that people can't afford to eat, so egg prices are certainly an issue. But politicians can and do gaslight "everyone else has cheap food, your personal experience should be ignored". With electricity and gasoline, we know it's pretty much the same within a few % all over the country, so we know we can project our experience onto everyone else.
It's the unfairness that gets to people. In UK and europe, the electricity market is based on marginal pricing - the price of the electricity getting to your home is based on the most expensive generator used for that half-hour of power (if it's gas at £1,600 per MWh (£1.60 or around $2 per kWh or domestic unit) then all the electricity, from suppliers happy to supply at £59 per MWh, nuclear at around £80, all gets priced at £1,600. If we just paid the price the generator asked for, they would be happy (that was the price they asked for) and the average price would be much lower!
"It's the unfairness that gets to people."
These seems to be the common sentiment, doesn't it?
Thanks for sharing your perspective from across the pond!
The unprecedented new energy demand is based on unsubstantiated claims of the vital importance of AI. There are a lot of special interest groups poised to make a lot of money on the fad.
If the AI industry needs power, then they can pay all the costs for the needed energy, including infrastructure and elevated fuel cost caused by their unprecedented claimed needs.
"unsubstantiated claims of the vital importance of AI" Definitely fair for us to be constantly questioning how long-lasting these tools will be, how they will evolve, what role they're ultimately take etc. And the rate of announced new data centers for meeting those needs definitely outpace the rate of them actually being built. But in many ways it's not prudent for us to wait around and see what will happen before planning now.
And either way, the truth is: people are angry now about energy prices. Maybe part of that is from data centers, but it's certainly not solely from this new source of demand. So what can we do in the meantime? And what can we learn from the stories being told right now from that consternation?
The claimed AI energy needs far outstrip historical demand. That cannot help but have major ramifications in the price of energy.
Seems to me if the AI industry needs unprecedented amounts of energy, then they should pay the cost, not the average ratepayer. The financial ball should rest entirely with the AI industry. It’s not like they cannot afford the cost; they are simply trying to get someone else to foot the bill. The regulators and politicians should insist on fairness and not be bought off by the AI lobby.
So, bringing it back to the point of the article, I suppose you would label the 2020s 'eggs' to be inflated energy costs / artificially-high AI investment? Will be interesting to see how the history records look back on this time, for sure!
The early data center energy needs have morphed into AI driven new demands for huge, unprecedented amounts of energy. Therein lies the problem. Building the required generation and infrastructure is very expensive. Those demanding such unprecedented amounts of new energy should pay the bill. Seems eminently fair to me.
As far as the benefits versus downside, I think that remains to be seen. Keep thinking back to the Terminator with control out of mankind’s hands.