New year, old challenges as AI faces uncertain path to power

(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s electrical grid is at a critical crossroads, buckling under the pressure of rising demand with not enough supply or time to stabilize it.

Those concerns – reliability and affordability – dominated the last year for PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator serving 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia. Long-standing generation is retiring faster than replacements can come online, while demand – driven largely by AI-powered data centers – is increasing.