In this exclusive Q&A for Power Info Today, we speak with Helen Ankers, Managing Editor of [d]arc media and a respected voice in global lighting design. Drawing from her extensive experience across major lighting exhibitions and design forums, Helen shares insights into the technologies shaping energy-efficient lighting, the importance of knowledge-sharing platforms like LiGHT 25, and how professionals from the power and energy sector can make the most of networking and learning opportunities at such events.

Her perspectives offer valuable guidance for first-time attendees and seasoned professionals alike, highlighting the innovations, collaborations, and conversations driving the next generation of sustainable lighting.

Q1. What particular lighting technologies or brands displayed at Light Expo are of most interest from a power and energy perspective, and why?

From a power and energy perspective, the focus is on sustainability. Many exhibitors at LiGHT 25 are leading the way in developing lighting solutions that prioritise low power consumption and environmental responsibility.

Of particular interest are:

• – Brands that have won sustainability awards or achieved B Corp certification.
• – Innovations in the new Technical Zone, which showcases advancements in lighting controls—making project work more efficient and cost-effective.

Q2. How does an event like Light Expo help power and energy professionals get informed about lighting trends and opportunities?

Beyond the exhibitors’ wealth of knowledge and experience, the dedicated talks programme is a major learning resource.

Key highlights include:

• – The (Society of Light and Lighting) SLL-curated content on the second day — a two-hour session of six 15-minute presentations covering topics like LED optics, luminaire housing, drivers, product testing, circularity, and embodied carbon.
• – PHOS CPD-accredited sessions (‘The Light Within Us – Saluto Genius Colour and Conscious Design’), exploring the neuroscience of light, sensory evolution, zoning, colour, and wellbeing. These sessions also address efficiency, Part L, and the need for legislation that protects human-centric design.
• – Willie Duggan’s presentation, ‘Out of Our Lane – What Lighting Designers Must Learn from Medicine,’ which examines how medical science reveals light’s role in human health—from circadian rhythms to mitochondrial function.

Additionally, professionals can visit the Associations Lounge, where major lighting associations (LIA, SLL, ILP, IALD, DALI Alliance, etc.) host talks and offer opportunities to speak directly with industry representatives.

Q3. How can lighting specification professionals and energy/power engineers make better use of networking at such events to drive integrated solutions?

Networking opportunities include:

• – Attending talks and staying after sessions to speak with presenters and continue discussions.
• – Visiting manufacturer stands to connect directly with product developers and suppliers.
• – The Late-Night Opening (6.00 – 9.00 PM on opening night) — a more informal setting with refreshments and social gatherings at various stands.
• – The Networking Lunch on the second day, held in the lounge, which provides a quieter environment for meaningful conversations or meetings.

Q4. What advice would you give to someone from the power and energy industry attending the expo for the first time? What should they focus on?

• – Start at the new Technical Zone to explore the latest in lighting controls and energy-efficient solutions from leading brands.
• – Plan ahead — review the talks programme and schedule key sessions in advance using the downloadable calendar.
• – Create a “hit list” of exhibitors to make navigation easier and ensure you visit the most relevant stands.
• – Visit the Architectural Zone to connect with top lighting suppliers.
• – Take advantage of networking opportunities, whether formal or casual.
• – For those juggling work commitments, there’s a dedicated workspace area to stay productive while attending the event.
• – Above all, soak up the atmosphere, share knowledge, and engage in as many conversations as possible with peers and industry experts.

Beyond generating a clean source of power, the project benefits local municipalities. RWE pays 0.2 euro cents per kilowatt hour of electricity generated. The Aldenhoven wind farm is expected to generate revenue of upto €150,000 annually. The company has confirmed an investment decision to add two further turbines, each with a capacity of 7 MW, near the Düren-Merken wind farm. Construction of these units is scheduled to begin at the start of next year.

Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia, commented: “We consider the Rhenish lignite area to be an ideal location for wind power. We have already installed wind turbines with a combined output of 249 MW. We are currently constructing a further 77 MW, and more projects are ready and waiting. The Aldenhoven wind farm is a prime example of efficient electricity generation on recultivated land. It demonstrates successful collaboration with the relevant authorities and local communities, as well as structural change in action. Six wind turbines can now generate electricity for an estimated 24,000 households on the site of the former Inden opencast mine. Many thanks to the RWE team and our partners.”

Onshore wind remains a critical element in Germany’s transition to a low-carbon future. RWE continues to expand its domestic infrastructure, with 170 MW planned capacity and 676 MW already operational across the country. In the Rhenish lignite region alone, 77 MW with 249 MW operational. With headquarters in Essen and nine regional offices across the country, RWE is placing itself at the heart of Germany’s changing wind and solar future.

The global solar market is estimated to be around US$13 billion in 2025. It is forecasted to reach almost US$26 billion by 2034. Which means there is an acceleration of a CAGR of almost 8% right from 2025 to 2034. The solar inverter market size in Asia Pacific alone surpassed US$5.5 billion in 2025 and is expanding at a decent CAGR of just over 8% during the forecast period.

Before deep diving into what exactly a solar inverter can do on a larger picture, they convert DC electricity that is generated by solar panels into AC electricity so that it can be used in homes and utilities as well as businesses. There is no shred of doubt when we say that there are increasing investments that are taking place in solar energy, advancement in the inverter technologies in particular, and of course, government incentives are key factors that are fueling market expansion.

What Is a Solar Inverter?

A solar inverter is a type of power inverter that converts the variable direct current output of a particular photovoltaic solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current, which is also known as AC, that can be fed into a commercial grid or be used by a local grid electrical network.

The market happens to be segmented based on the type, which is central, string, micro inverters, as well as hybrid. Apart from this, the market is also segmented on the basis of phase, which is single phase and three phase. And lastly, it is also segmented on the basis of application, like where they are used—residential, commercial, or utility.

What is the Impact of AI on the Solar Inverter Market?

It is well to be noted that AI is transforming the way the solar inverter industry is working by way of enhancing its efficiency, predictive maintenance, and great stability.

What Do The AI-Driven Inverters Actually Do?

They improve the yield of energy – Artificial intelligence makes sure to optimize power conversion as well as adjust real-time settings so as to maximize the effectiveness.

They help with predictive maintenance – The machine learning algorithms go on to detect faults much before failures take place, thereby reducing the downtime.

They help in elevating the grid management – SMART inverters that have artificial intelligence in them can support grid stability through altering output in response to the grid conditions.

They help with the storage of energy – Artificial intelligence makes sure to optimize the usage of the battery in a hybrid inverter, hence improving the overall energy management.

The Market Drivers

Giving renewable energy a try – The rising numbers of solar installations across the world happen to drive demand for inverters, and that too for the efficient ones.

The enormous effects of government incentives and the policies that come along – Subsidies and tax benefits, as well as net metering policies, promote solar adoption in a big way.

Modernisation of grid – Smart grid infrastructure is witnessing rising investments, and so are distributed energy systems.

Solar components and their consistently declining costs – Lower costs of solar panels and inverters make solar energy more accessible.

What Are the Opportunities in Store?

Energy storage solutions, seeing a rise – Growth, when it comes to battery storage systems, creates demand as far as hybrid inverters are concerned.

Emerging market expansion – countries such as the ones in Asia and Africa, as well as Latin America, are witnessing a rapid adoption when it comes to solar energy.

Blending artificial intelligence & IoT – There are massive technology developments taking place in smart inverters, such as remote monitoring and self-healing capabilities that themselves go on to present fresh opportunities.

Floating solar farms are on the rise – The rising adoption, when it comes to floating solar installations, will surely need specialized inverters.

Hurdles 

The starting cost, which itself is pretty high – In spite of the fact that the costs are declining, the upfront cost of a complete solar system is still a major barrier.

Issues pertaining to grid integration – In order to manage solar power generation, which is variable, advanced inverter technologies are required.

Risks pertaining to cyber security – It is a known fact that smart inverters, which are connected to the grid, happen to be vulnerable when it comes to cyber threats.

Shortage in components – When there is a supply chain disruption scenario and also raw material shortage, either of them can affect the component production, which can lead to a precarious situation.

When we talk of a Regional Perspective, every geography has a different aspect pertaining to the solar inverter.

For instance, North America has very robust government incentives that are in place, and apart from that, there is a strong residential and commercial solar installation wave that is witnessed. In addition to this, there is also an advancement in the field of hybrid inverters, which is driving the growth story.

Europe on the other hand, is leading in the adoption of solar with very strict renewable energy targets as well as high grid modernization efforts that are being put in place.

Favorable policies as well as large-scale solar projects make Asia-Pacific the fastest-growing market as far as the solar inverter market is concerned. This massive rise in demand is due to promising markets, such as China, India, and Japan.

And when we talk of the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa markets, there is an increasing investment that is taking place in solar energy so as to reduce overdependence on fossil fuels. The key markets across this region are the UAE, Brazil, and, of course, South Africa.

The tax burden, which has been introduced in response to the 2022 global energy crisis, is continuing to discourage funding when it comes to new exploration as well as drilling projects.

A potential that’s under-exploited

As per the OEUK, the present fiscal environment could go on to restrict British production to almost 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent – boe by 2050; however, the anticipated demand over the same period is expected to range between 13 and 15 billion boe. So as to reach this potential, which happens to remain untapped, OEUK urgently happens to recommend revision of the tax policies, especially by way of reducing the windfall tax executed when oil & gas saw a surge in 2022. This tax, which was originally designed to capture certain extraordinary profits that resulted from the Russia-Ukraine war, happens to be now viewed as a prominent economic barrier for the companies that operate from the North Sea.

Industry representatives go on to argue that such high tax rates at present discourage all kinds of investments within the region, thereby threatening the long-term viability when it comes to the overall British energy sector.

Strategic as well as economic stakes

Besides all this, the OUEK stresses that domestic oil & gas production happens to generate fewer emissions as compared to the importing options such as the LNG, which primarily happens to be sourced from the US.

This kind of prominent difference in carbon footprint is regularly cited as the justification when it comes to maintaining or even, for that matter, expanding the natural resources exploitation. The British government has gone on to show openness when it comes to new projects that are around the present infrastructures like Jackdaw and Rosebank, thereby implicitly highlighting the requirement to preserve a certain state of sovereignty of energy. Nonetheless, these new initiatives immediately require fiscal alterations so as to become economically sustainable in the long term.

A political choice that’s pretty intricate

Faced with this kind of a scenario, the British government has to reconcile conflicting economic as well as strategic imperatives. It is well to be noted that, on one hand, there is indeed a clear political willingness to reduce the external energy dependence by exploiting more domestic resources that are available, while, on the other hand, the present fiscal barriers make the investment projects expensive as well as risky for the global oil & gas companies that happen to operate in the US. The fact is that the economic actors in the sector go on to exert a lot of pressure on the government so as to secure more favorable measures that are capable of sustainably resurrecting the activity across the North Sea. The UK hence finds itself at critical crossroads, facing a very immediate need to clarify its energy fiscal policy, a type of decision in which the economic repercussions can be quite prominent for the decades ahead.

Hassi R’Mel’s Strategic Expansion

The Hassi R’Mel field, which is considered the largest gas field in Africa, happens to be central to this strategy. Operated under the aegis of the National Company for Research, Production, Transport, Processing, and Marketing when it comes to hydrocarbons, this site comprises 26% of Algeria’s daily national production. It is well to be noted that Sonatrach plans to commission three fresh gas compression stations by 2027, therefore looking to have an additional recovery, which is anticipated at 121 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This expansion also goes on to include 7 million tons of condensates as well as 3 million tons of LPG, and along with it strategic resources when it comes to domestic along with foreign markets.

Sonatrach has also announced a global investment plan that’s anticipated at $50 billion for the period between 2024 and 2028. Out of this amount, $36 billion is going to be specifically dedicated to exploration of gas and also production activities, all of which happen to be essential so as to reach the set objectives. Rising production is also supported by way of the recent discovery of eight new fields that look very promising in 2023, hence offering the country elevated prospects in terms of the supply of energy.

Development when it comes to regional infrastructure

Algeria has gone on to position itself as one of the strategic players on the international gas chessboard by way of the Trans-Saharan gas pipeline project that is aimed at connecting Nigeria to Europe through Algerian territory. This infrastructure looks to elevate direct access to the European market, especially sensitive to the energy security challenges in recent years. The pipeline happens to constitute a critical component when it comes to attaining the objective of exporting almost 100 billion cubic meters per year globally, hence consolidating the position of Algeria among the global suppliers. The economic significance of this project is important as it would go on to secure stable revenues coming out of exports and also strengthen the commercial ties between Europe and Africa. This initiative also happens to be a part of Algeria’s long-term vision that is aimed at maximizing exploitation of the natural resources and at the same time also capitalizing on the strategic geographic location. In such a context, Algeria happens to maintain increased interest as far as international partnerships are concerned along with the regional integration in energy matters.

As electricity demand keeps climbing across the United States, the question now isn’t just how to keep the lights on — it’s how to do it without leaning further into fossil fuels.

In 2024, the country quietly crossed a major renewable energy milestone. Wind and solar power together generated more electricity than coal in U.S. for the first time ever. That’s according to new findings from Ember, based on a full year of data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Together, wind and solar power accounted for 17 percent of total electricity generation. Coal fell to just 15 percent, its lowest share on record.

This happened in a year when electricity use jumped 3 percent — the fifth-largest spike since 2000. Natural gas did grow to meet part of that demand, but solar growth told a bigger story. In fact, it added more new generation than gas, suggesting a deep shift in where America’s power is coming from.

Renewable Energy Picks Up Speed

Solar stood out, growing by 27 percent and adding 64 terawatt-hours to the grid. Wind power added another 32. That growth helped balance both the steep drop in coal output and a sharp rise in electricity demand overall.

Gas-fired generation grew by 59 terawatt-hours — up just over three percent — but it was solar that met the largest chunk of the demand increase. Coal, on the other hand, lost ground again. Since 2007, coal in U.S. has dropped by 68 percent. Emissions from the power sector have come down by nearly a third in that same period.

Batteries Are Changing the Game

One reason solar has been able to take on a bigger role is battery storage. The ability to store solar power during the day and use it in the evening is solving one of clean energy’s biggest challenges.

In states like California and Nevada, solar now makes up more than 30 percent of the electricity mix. That’s the first time either state has hit that number. California also led the way in energy storage, installing more battery capacity than solar panels — a move aimed at keeping the grid steady when the sun goes down.

Across the country, solar developers added 31 gigawatts of new large-scale capacity, while battery storage added another 10. Texas had a breakout year, building more new solar and battery projects than any other state — even outpacing California.

What’s Holding Things Back?

There are still real obstacles with clean energy. Wind energy added the smallest amount of new capacity in over a decade. And more than half of U.S. states still get less than five percent of their electricity from solar.

To keep momentum, the report says the country needs better grid infrastructure, faster permitting, and more investment in clean tech.

Coal’s decline continued, but fossil fuel use overall ticked up slightly, pushing power-sector emissions up by 0.7 percent. Still, emissions per unit of electricity were the lowest they’ve ever been.

This isn’t just a data point. It marks a turning point. The U.S. is using more electricity than before, and solar is now going toe-to-toe with gas. If investment in renewable energy stays strong, and storage keeps scaling, the U.S. could meet future power needs without stepping back on climate progress.

How much does the U.S. depend on power from its northern neighbor? And could that reliance give Canada an upper hand in trade disputes?

These questions came into focus recently when Ontario’s government proposed a 25% surcharge on Canadian electricity exports to the U.S., targeting border states like New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. The move was short-lived. Washington quickly responded with threats to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Ontario backed down. Still, the episode raised a bigger question—can electricity become a meaningful tool in trade negotiations?

The current U.S.-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) protects electricity from tariffs, which made Ontario’s surcharge more of a workaround than a direct tax. But it clearly got attention—and showed that power lines, not just pipelines, can stir economic tensions.

Provinces Driving the Power Trade

In 2023, Canada exported 35 terawatt-hours of electricity southward. That’s a small slice of the overall U.S. energy pie but still brought in $3.4 billion for Canada. Four provinces dominate this flow: Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba, responsible for 86% of all electricity sent to the U.S.

The direction of power trade largely mirrors the pattern of physical goods moving between the two countries. North-south corridors form the main arteries of this exchange. Quebec, long considered the powerhouse of Canadian hydroelectricity, had consistently been the leading exporter. But in recent years, its dominance has dipped slightly. The cause? A series of droughts that reduced hydro output, giving Ontario a chance to take the lead in terms of total exports.

That change is less about Ontario surging ahead and more about Quebec temporarily falling behind. Ontario’s exports haven’t dramatically increased; they’ve simply remained stable as Quebec navigated supply challenges. It highlights how weather patterns can shift the dynamics of cross-border energy flow.

It’s also worth noting that electricity trade is not a one-way street. While Canada is a net exporter, it does import electricity from the U.S. at times—typically during droughts or when system maintenance limits output. The same four provinces leading in exports also make up 95% of Canada’s imports. British Columbia, for instance, is often the largest buyer of American power. That will likely change once the Site C dam becomes fully operational, boosting the province’s hydro capacity and reducing its need for imported electricity.

When conditions are normal, Canada’s dependence on U.S. electricity drops to just around 2 terawatt-hours annually. That’s roughly a tenth of the amount it exports, reinforcing the idea that the power relationship, for now, favors Canada.

Where Electricity Becomes Leverage

The idea of electricity as a bargaining tool in trade negotiations rests heavily on how much influence Canadian power holds in specific U.S. states. While the total exported electricity may seem modest, the impact becomes clearer when you zoom in on state-level dependence.

Maine is a prime example. In 2023, New Brunswick provided 44% of Maine’s electricity. Add imports from Quebec and Newfoundland, and Canadian power accounted for nearly two-thirds of the state’s energy supply. That level of dependence isn’t easily replaced.

Minnesota’s situation also points to vulnerability. Last year, the state sourced 13% of its electricity from Manitoba. That share is expected to grow, especially during summer months when demand peaks. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which manages transmission in the region, has already flagged concerns. With coal-fired plants retiring, demand increasing, and new generation slow to come online, there may be fewer domestic options to plug the gap.

Adding to the challenge, neighboring grid operators like PJM and the Southwest Power Pool are experiencing similar constraints. In other words, if Minnesota can’t get more power from its usual U.S. sources, it may have no choice but to lean harder on Manitoba’s supply.

This level of reliance turns Canadian electricity into something more than just a commodity. It becomes a point of strategic importance—and potentially, political leverage.

Not All Provinces Hold the Same Cards

Still, U.S. state reliance on Canadian power varies, and not all provinces are in a strong position to use electricity as a pressure point.

Ontario supplies about 6% of Michigan’s electricity needs. But that power often gets redirected to neighboring states like Indiana and Ohio. New York, another major trade partner, depends on Quebec and Ontario for only about 6% of its electricity.

Could these states pivot to other suppliers if Canada raised surcharges? In theory, yes. New York is part of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC), a regional grid that includes Quebec, Ontario, and six New England states. While shifting supply within that network could provide short-term relief, it wouldn’t be without complications. Many of those states are also expecting rising electricity demand. By 2026, experts anticipate a potential shortfall in the region, limiting backup options.

Quebec, despite its large export volume, may not have much wiggle room. Hydro Quebec has an existing agreement with New York’s independent system operator. That contract likely limits sudden changes to pricing or supply, reducing the province’s flexibility during trade disputes.

Without coordination between provinces, particularly Ontario and Quebec, efforts to use electricity as a trade lever may fall flat. A fragmented approach could blunt the impact and risk undermining long-term energy relationships.

Electricity as a Strategic Asset

So, can electricity truly influence trade negotiations? The answer may depend on timing.

With another hot summer approaching and cross-border energy cooperation and vulnerability becoming more visible, Canada’s position could strengthen. If U.S. grids come under stress, the steady flow of Canadian electricity might feel less like a routine transaction and more like a lifeline.

Ontario has already signaled it hasn’t ruled out reintroducing the surcharge. If new U.S. tariffs land in early April, as expected, the province may bring it back—just as it did briefly in March. The message seems clear: electricity is on the table, if needed.

Still, power exports may serve Canada better as a bridge than a battering ram. There’s growing recognition that energy ties bind the two economies in a way few other sectors do. Disrupting that flow could hurt both sides, especially with climate goals and energy transition timelines on the line.

Instead of using electricity purely as a retaliatory measure, Canadian provinces might find more value in positioning their clean power resources as part of a collaborative framework. In an era where decarbonization and energy security go hand in hand, dependable cross-border energy trade could be one of Canada’s most persuasive assets—not just in conflict, but in partnership.

AI and Datacenters Driving Revival in US Electricity Demand Growth

Growth in demand for electricity in the US had stalled for years due to improved energy efficiency and changing patterns of industrial consumption of power. The rise of AI and the expansion of datacenters have altered that arc, however. Datacenters that process the myriad calculation of data that drive AI systems became one of the largest drivers of energy demand growth. The resurgence is driven by governments’ growing dependence on AI across sectors, from healthcare to finance, retail and autonomous systems.

As organizations from different industries deploy AI systems to improve operations and repair efficiencies, they need advanced computational infrastructure that can run with large datasets and perform real-time analytics. This demand has turned datacenters into energy guzzlers. Unlike conventional power customers, datacenters need an uninterrupted, robust flow of electricity to guarantee uptime in a connected world, which augments their significance in the US energy mix.

Datacenters currently consume about 2% of the world’s electricity supply, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), and that share is projected to rise as AI takes off. AI and datacenters are directly and meaningfully affecting electricity generation and demand in the United States, home to some of the largest technology companies in the world and on the leading edge of this trend.

US Datacenter Energy Use Grew Substantially Between 2018 and 2023

In the period from 2018 to 2023, datacenter energy consumption in the United States increased significantly in response to demand for cloud computing, big data, and AI applications. With this surge, hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud quickly scaled their infrastructure to meet the demand. According to another US Department of Energy report, the energy consumption associated specifically with datacenters in the US had increased by almost 30% by 2023.

Also contributing to increase is the rise of edge computing and the demand for localized datacenters serving a number of industries, including telecommunications and financial services. The significance of AI in this growth cannot be overstated. AI-powered projects like natural language processing, self-driving vehicle frameworks, and recommendation engines necessitate immense computing power, forcing datacenters to scale their capacity and, as a result, their energy consumption.

Training a single large-scale AI model, for example, can require as much electricity as 100 average households use over a whole year. This revealing fact draws attention to the high levels of energy needed to operate AI and its ability to promote sustained expansion in datacenter energy use.

Department of Energy Projects Significant Growth in Datacenter Power Demand by 2028

The Future demand for datacenter electricity is high Going Forward. The US Department of Energy estimates that the demand for datacenter power will increase by 100% by 2028, driven not only by the growing reliance on AI but the ordinary growth in digital services. This growth highlights the huge and growing necessity of scaling the nation’s power infrastructure alongside the energy needs of the datacenters.

This leaves policymakers and utility providers with a significant challenge: to guarantee that the energy grid is able to accommodate the rising load without sacrificing the goals of a cleaner environment or the reliability of the grid. namely the integration of renewable energy sources, PV sources, smart grid technologies, and energy-storage solutions. As the risk of power outages rises due to extreme weather events and aging infrastructure, the need for resilience and energy efficiency has never been clearer.

This upward trend is further bolstered by a Deloitte report that claims the global data center market will grow at a CAGR of 10.2% during the period of 2023-2028. With datacenters increasingly driving the AI revolution, the energy footprints of those datacenters will be a focus of utilities and regulators alike, with implications for energy pricing, grid management and emissions reduction targets.

AI Enthusiasm Accelerating Datacenter Capital Expenditures

AI is fueling not only electricity demand but also accelerating capital expenditures (capex) on datacenter infrastructure. It has led companies to rashly build, or find the need to upgrade, their facilities to support AI-powered workloads that demand huge computational resources. Recent activity in capex has also been strong among hyperscalers and large enterprises deploying AI tools to gain operational excellence.

As a leading name in global AI hardware, NVIDIA’s recent introduction of a datacenter-specific product lineup is indicative of this correlation between AI development and datacenter expansion. As reported by Gartner, the worldwide expenditure of datacenter infrastructure will exceed $200 billion per year by 2025, with most of that investment tied to AI-ready hardware and renewable energy integration.

Training AI models (especially complex large language models [LLMs]) is among the most energy-intensive workloads datacenters undertake. For instance, OpenAI’s GPT-4 needs tons of parallel processing power, requiring custom chips and cooling systems. These systems directly affect capital outlays for next-gen datacenters that can optimize power utilization efficiency (PUE).

Another prediction from Dell’Oro Group suggests that over 20% of total global datacenter spending will take place within AI-enabled datacenters by 2028, a significant increase from a meager 8% in 2023. The trend, attributable to investment from both private and public-sector sources, reinforces the importance of the datacenter sector in negotiating the future of energy demand.

Conclusion

AI and datacenters are not merely transforming industries—they are transforming the very structure of global energy demand.” In the United States, the transformation of American business by AI applications and the rapid expansion of datacenters have accelerated demand growth for electricity, reversing decades of stagnation. Because datacenters are becoming indispensable to modern society, they will increasingly drive energy demand growth, posing both threats and opportunities to the energy sector.

With the trend of datacenter power usage growing rapidly from 2018 to 2023, the demand for cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable power solutions has become more urgent than ever. As US Department of Energy sets a forecast challenging datacenter power demand to double in 2028, data center stakeholders from all sides must disregard standard operation practices and formulate innovative and a resilience-based approach to this impending challenge.

Even as enthusiasm for AI spurs unprecedented advance in investments into datacenter infrastructure, next-generation facility investment requires substantial capital expenditure that will remain a key driver of energy sector dynamics. Through integration of renewable energy, improved grid infrastructure, or development of AI hardware, the future of the demand for electricity in the US will be more and more characterized by the interplay between AI and datacenters, making these infrastructures a new and powerful energy consumer.