Natural Gas Fuels The AI Data Center Boom

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An explosion of hyper-scale data centers, which will provide the computing power needed for artificial intelligence (AI), is driving up demand for electricity and adding stress to the country’s aging power grid.

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Data centers have become quite the discussion topic for U.S. energy companies during earning calls.

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Interestingly, one U.S. energy company, Vistra Corp, even has a stock price chart that almost perfectly tracks Nvidia Corp. 

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Amazon, Google, and Microsoft own about 65% of global data center capacity, and they’re committed to powering their data centers with renewable energy.

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However, gas is needed when renewable energy sources are not generating enough power.

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According to a Goldman Sachs report published in April, natural gas is expected to supply 60% of the power demand growth from AI and data centers, while renewables will make up the remaining 40%.

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AI is fueling natural gas demand as U.S. energy companies rush to meet electricity demands.