In the era of explosive artificial intelligence applications, numerous large technology companies continue to invest in and expand data centers to train large language models, resulting in a rapid increase in their power consumption.

The surging power consumption of US technology companies may complicate Biden's climate goals. Biden has stated that his goal is to achieve decarbonization of the power industry by 2035 in response to climate change.

US Energy Secretary Granholm stated on Tuesday (June 4th) that the Biden administration is requiring large technology companies to invest in new climate-friendly power generation facilities to meet the increasing electricity demand of data centers.

Granholm stated in a recent speech, "We have been negotiating with data companies, some of which have committed to achieving net-zero emissions and have also expressed a desire to see clean baseload power."

"So there are a lot of conversations going on now between tech companies and utilities, and tech companies and nuclear companies, about those kinds of opportunities, and we want to make sure everybody gets involved in it," she stated.

Exploring clean energy technologies.

Currently, data center business has become one of the fastest growing industries in the world, at the cost of consuming crazy amounts of electricity. A report from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) last week pointed out that by the end of 2030, the electricity consumption of data centers may account for 9% of the total electricity generation in the United States, more than doubling the current level.

According to the propagation speed of generative artificial intelligence and other technologies and the energy efficiency of new data centers, the annual growth rate of electricity consumption in the data center industry is expected to be between 3.7% and 15% by 2030. This means that by the end of 2030, electricity consumption may double from current levels.

Nuclear energy may be a way for technology companies to achieve their net-zero emissions goals. Granholm revealed that the government has discussed the feasibility of companies joining together to use small modular nuclear reactors for nuclear power generation, and envisioned that companies may be able to achieve cost reductions by ordering simultaneously.

Currently, NuScale Power, based in Oregon, is the only company that has obtained approval from US regulatory agencies to build small modular reactors. However, last year the company had to terminate its carbon-free power project due to insufficient power orders. This is a blow to the Biden administration's clean energy agenda.

"This is a lesson: if you want to build a new nuclear generation facility, you have to have a clear path to market," Granholm said, citing NuScale as an example.

Last week, the White House announced new measures to stimulate the development of new nuclear power plants in the US. The US government stated that this is a huge potential source of carbon-free power necessary to address climate change.

The problem is that the United States currently has no new nuclear power plants. The latest nuclear reactor in the United States is the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, which is several years behind schedule and several billion dollars over budget. It will be put into commercial operation in 2023 and 2024.

Meanwhile, Granholm also added in her speech that besides nuclear energy, technology companies are also exploring other clean energy technologies, including geothermal energy.

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