Electricity demand expected to jump by more than 75% by 2050, report says
The global consulting and technology services company predicted that electricity demand could jump at least 25% in the next five years and as much as 78% by 2050 — findings that far outpace historical trends over the past two decades. Such growth could have a significant impact on both the reliability and affordability of electricity, the report said. Retail costs are also expected to rise; by 2050, costs passed onto the consumer could double, ICF found.
"This is a pivotal moment as rising demand creates urgent challenges for the grid," said Anne Choate, ICF executive vice president for energy, environment and infrastructure in a statement.
The U.S. could struggle with increased electricity demand due to rising temperatures and the growing use of emerging technologies, bearing down on an overloaded system. The report found that in Texas, nearly one-third of the expected increase is attributable to large load sources, such as cryptocurrency mining operations. Data centers, building electrification and semiconductor manufacturing, along with electric vehicles, account for 35% of the projected load through 2040 in 13 mid-Atlantic and Midwest states as well as Washington, D.C.
Electric grid operators across the U.S. have been sounding the alarm in advance of elevated summer temperatures after record-breaking heat last year. The World Meteorological Organization said in its annual State of the Global Climate report that 2024 set a new global temperature record, averaging over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The National Weather Service released a report last week predicting hotter-than-normal temperatures across the United States from June through August.
PJM, one of the country's largest electric grid operators, serving 67 million people in states including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan, warned customers in a news release that the system will be experience a high peak demand this summer.
"This outlook at a record peak heat scenario reflects our years-long and mounting concerns as we plan for enough resources to maintain grid reliability," said Aftab Khan, PJM's executive vice president of Operations, Planning & Security, in a statement. The operator stressed it had adequate resources to respond to the demand and said it is planning for unusual scenarios and will react to them to "protect the electricity supply."
Electricity costs are also expected to rise and outpace inflation, with experts predicting a jump of 6% in 2025 — an average of $784 per household for the summer period. That would mark a 12-year record, according to a new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Households are not only expected to have to pay higher prices for electricity, they will likely consume more of it than they did last summer because of the need for more cooling.
NEADA Executive Director Mark Wolfe told CBS News' MoneyWatch, "when electricity prices go up, they tend to stay high. "
Watch: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked what habeas corpus is in Senate hearing
Rubio interrupted at Senate hearing during remarks on changes at State Department
Car bomb outside Palm Springs fertility clinic was act of terrorism, officials say
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
ComEd CEO seeks rules to prevent AI from boosting energy bills
The head of Chicago's biggest energy supplier has called for new rules to curb the impact of the artificial intelligence boom on consumers' electricity bills. Commonwealth Edison Co. has proposed modifications to tariffs that include higher deposits for data centers, according to Chief Executive Officer Gil Quiniones. He also wants data centers to post collateral in case 'loads and revenues do not materialize as planned.' 'What really needs to happen is to make sure that we're not shifting costs due to data centers powered by AI to all the other customers,' Quiniones said in the interview Wednesday. Concerns are growing about the impact on ordinary consumers from the massive build-out of AI-related infrastructure. The boom is spurring the largest increase in US electricity demand in decades, but power suppliers struggling to keep pace. Quiniones spoke at the Global Quantum Forum in Chicago, where utility executives including ComEd's owner, Exelon Corp., and Southern Co. also addressed the issue. Southern's CEO Chris Womack said Americans will revolt if they end up on the hook for soaring power costs associated with AI. Earlier this week, the operator of the largest US grid offered more evidence of how power prices are being bid higher. The outcome of an electricity auction Tuesday meant businesses and households served by PJM Interconnection LLC will spend a record $16.1 billion to ensure power supplies in the year starting June 2026. The region supplied by PJM includes Chicago. Prices would have been even higher if Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro hadn't sued to place a cap on increases, Exelon CEO Calvin Butler said during a panel discussion. 'When you look at the prices that came out yesterday, they're only going to continue to increase,' Butler said. 'Policy is very important, because we have to get this right. And I wish I could tell you today that we have an answer for the short term.' The growth of quantum computing in Illinois alongside the AI and data centers boom needs to be closely watched, Quiniones also said. While quantum computing is less energy-intensive than AI, Chicago's quantum and microelectronics park, a project spearheaded by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, has already attracted more than $1 billion in investment from companies including PsiQuantum Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Infleqtion. 'For now, we are a state that exports power,' Quiniones said. 'We need to be very, very closely monitoring this, working with PJM and our regulators in the state to make sure that we make appropriate additions in the future, not only in generation capacity, but investment on the transmission system.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
FERC approves $16.4B Constellation-Calpine deal
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday approved Constellation Energy's proposal to buy Calpine from Energy Capital Partners in a deal valued at $16.4 billion, subject to conditions aimed at reducing the expanded company's ability to exert market power. With a proposed mitigation plan in place — which includes Constellation selling five power plants in the PJM Interconnection — 'the proposed transaction will not have an adverse effect on competition,' FERC said. An agreement between Constellation and Monitoring Analytics, PJM's market monitor, imposes offer caps in the PJM capacity market on all of the independent power producer's power plants selling into the PJM market through the 2035-36 delivery year, FERC said. Although Constellation agreed not to enter into colocation data center deals until mid-2026 or until FERC issues an order clarifying PJM's rules on the issue, Jefferies equity analysts said Thursday that the company will be free to enter into above-market data center transactions under the approved conditions. In its decision, FERC dismissed arguments from Public Citizen, PennFuture and the Clean Air Council that Constellation could withdraw its nuclear capacity from the market to sell power directly to data centers, saying there was no evidence that would happen. As part of the plan, Constellation will sell four power plants in the PJM Interconnection totaling 3,546 MW. They are the: 1,134-MW gas-fired combined cycle Bethlehem Energy Center; the 569-MW dual-fuel combined cycle York Energy Center Unit 1; the 1,136-MW dual-fuel combined cycle Hay Road Energy Center; and the 707-MW, gas-fired simple cycle Edge Moor Energy Center. In its agreement with PJM's market monitor, Constellation agreed not to sell any of the power plants to Dominion Energy and American Electric Power, which own the most capacity in PJM. FERC rejected concerns raised by the Monitoring Analytics that PJM's capacity market is structurally uncompetitive and that consolidation of power plant owners makes market power problems worse. PJM has rules to mitigate the ability of power plant owners to drive up capacity prices using their market power, FERC said. The U.S. Department of Justice must approve the transaction before it can close, which Constellation expects will happen in the fourth quarter. Under the deal, Constellation will own almost 60 GW of nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration and battery storage. Calpine currently owns 27 GW. Recommended Reading Ratepayer advocates urge FERC to reject proposed Constellation-Calpine deal Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
ComEd customers seeing bills double amid rising electric cost
Temperatures are soaring, and so are the bills for ComEd customers, who are feeling the impact of the sticker shock. Experts, however, said the anger directed toward the electric company is being misplaced. Triple-digit jumps in some electric bills have customers seeing red. The main culprit isn't ComEd. The real driver is a higher supply charge, which the grid operator sets, not the utility, and unfortunately, it will get worse. "Mine doubled! That's kind of garbage," customer Drew Marinelli said. His ComEd bill for his Albany Park apartment went from around $80 per month to $167 last month. "It is a little frustrating to see that it jumped up that aggressively for what felt like no reason," he said. Marinelli wasn't the only customer to gasp. "The increase went into effect on June 1 and is expected to be about 10 to 15 percent per household," Mohammad Abdullah said via TikTok. The issue is baked into the "electricity supply charge," and it's not the company's fault. "Big power generators, the companies that own the power plants. They are laughing all the way to the bank this summer as we pay these high bills," Citizens Utility Board Communications Director Jim Chilsen said. Chilsen said the cost of electricity on the wholesale market went up thanks to PJM Interconnection, the electric grid operator. He said they have been slow to adopt low-cost clean energy resources and battery projects to help bring down prices. ComEd said the spike, combined with an unseasonably warm June, raised the average bill by more than $67. "Rising energy prices have a real impact on the families and customers that we serve," ComEd's director of revenue policy, Brad Perkins, said. Perkins said they knew it was coming and launched a $10 million relief fund earlier this month to help struggling customers pay these rising bills. "Thus far, we've seen a lot of interest in this. Thousands of customers have applied for relief on this, and customers will start experiencing the credits associated with this relief fund in a few weeks," he said. CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said in a statement, in part: "While we are relieved that the negotiated price cap prevented capacity costs from soaring even higher, this record price spike is unacceptable. CUB is deeply concerned that ComEd customers will continue to bear painfully high costs for another year, largely because of policy shortcomings from PJM. The power grid operator's policy decisions too often favor outdated, expensive power plants and needlessly block low-cost clean energy resources and battery projects from connecting to the grid and bringing down prices. This extended price spike was preventable. It ramps up the urgency of implementing long-term reforms at PJM and comprehensive energy legislation in Illinois, such as the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, to protect customers from price spikes that serve only to give power generators windfall profits." ComEd also offers bill support and ways customers can manage the rise in cost on their website.
