The proliferation of data centers aimed at meeting AI's computing needs could be bad news for the US power grid; A new report by Bloomberg.
Using 1 million residential sensors tracked by Whisker Labs, along with market intelligence data from DC Byte, Bloomberg found that more than half of households showing the worst power distortions live within 20 miles of significant data center activity.
In other words, A link has emerged between data center proximity and “bad harmonics” — a less-than-standard term for electricity flowing into homes.
Bloomberg says this “distorted” power can eventually destroy plug materials, making them susceptible to electrical fires and even blackouts and blackouts. Also, AI data centers can be more problematic due to their volatile energy requirements.
“No grid is designed to handle that load fluctuation, not just for one data center, but for multiple data centers,” said Aman Joshi, chief business officer at Bloom Energy.
Edison, a spokesman for Chicago's Commonwealth of Independent States, told Bloomberg that it “seriously questions the accuracy and underlying assumptions of Whisker Lab's claims.”