Pennsylvania lawmakers are responding to warnings of potential blackouts and grid failures caused by skyrocketing energy demand from artificial intelligence data centers.
Last month, the Public Utility Commission released a report warning that such failures could be six times worse due to the growing energy needs of AI and hyperscale data centers.
House Democrats and the House Energy Committee have unveiled a new plan they say will address and reverse the crisis. The initiative is described as a three-pronged approach focusing on “generation, efficiency, and demand response.”
“We know that demand for energy has skyrocketed because of the growth of artificial intelligence and hyperscale data center needs. But one thing that the PUC report made abundantly clear is that the serious future that we face, the energy shortfall, is coming for us even faster than we expected,” said State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, and majority chair of the House Energy Committee.
The majority of bills in the legislative package, titled “Keeping the Lights On in PA,” have passed the House and are awaiting movement in the Senate.