IT efficiency: an untapped power resource

Projections of data center capacity growth have exploded with the emergence of AI infrastructure and the continuing expansion and integration of standard IT functionality into the global economy. Electricity demand is growing in developed markets for the first time in more than a decade, led by proposed data center expansions and efforts to electrify the overall economy.

However, there is a looming gap between power demand and supply. The limits of the electricity generation development pipeline, combined with most grids’ inability to quickly interconnect distributed generation and energy storage assets, mean new supply is falling behind demand growth. While much has been written on prospective solutions to the power demand and supply mismatch, the potential for the data center industry to roll back its power demand projections while still meeting its business goals to grow AI and compute capacity requires more attention.