ALBANY, New York — Artificial intelligence’s thirst for more power is wreaking havoc with New York’s energy reliability plans and environmental goals.
The state’s grid operator is seeing a surge in large AI projects that need a significant amount of energy pushing to hook up to the electricity system. It’s a trend playing out around the country — and comes as New York officials struggle to address rising energy costs and achieve ambitious renewable energy goals.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has embraced AI and growing energy demand.
“It is a disruptive technology, but it is here and we can either embrace it or condemn it,” Hochul told business leaders last month. “I say we embrace it because whoever harnesses the power of AI today will own the next generations of power.”
