Jeffrey Jakubiak Discusses How AI Data Centers Could Reshape the Grid on Renewable Energy SmartPod

Renewable Energy SmartPod hosted a discussion with partner Jeffrey Jakubiak that explored one of the most talked-about topics in today’s economy: the surging energy demand from AI data centers and what it means for the nation’s power grid.

Jakubiak shared insights into the specific load requirements these facilities place on the grid and examined whether the United States can build sufficient generation capacity to meet future needs. The discussion also explored the growing trend of colocation and the emerging “Bring Your Own Power” (BYOP) model, raising an important question for the future: Will data centers become the new power centers?

“One of the models I’m seeing in the industry is where data centers are built to start with crypto mining, which can tolerate decent amount of downtime.” Jakubiak explained. “Then, when they get more built generation on site, they’re going to move to large language models, which can tolerate a little bit of downtime. Eventually, when they hook up to the grid, they’ll be front-facing AI models and data centers that have to be 24/7, no questions asked.”

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