Canada Closely Monitors NERC Level 3 Alert Over AI Data Center Grid Strain
Key Takeaways
- AI data centers strain North American electricity grids.
- PJM Interconnection calls for overhaul to manage AI-driven grid demand.
- Monitoring and policy actions emerge regionally to address AI-driven grid strain.
NERC warns of strain
Canada said it is “closely monitoring” a new warning about strain on North American electricity grids driven by artificial intelligence data centres, according to Natural Resources Canada.
“Canada is “closely monitoring” a new warning about the strain on North American electricity grids driven by artificial intelligence data centres, Natural Resources Canada says”
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a Level 3 alert on Monday, its highest alert rating, warning that electricity grids “did not have sufficient processes, procedures, or methods to address risks associated with computational loads.”
Global News reported that NERC’s examples of computational loads include “artificial intelligence training, cryptocurrency mining, and traditional data center uses,” tying the grid pressure directly to AI workloads.
A Natural Resources Canada spokesperson told Global News that Canada is also seeing “rising electricity demand driven by data centres, electrification, and economic growth in certain regions,” while saying the electricity grid “remains reliable overall.”
PJM overhaul sparks fight
In the United States, PJM Interconnection said the region “has years, not decades” to make fundamental changes to the way it operates, and PJM CEO David Mills wrote in a forward that “The current situation is not tenable.”
TechCrunch described PJM’s territory as including Northern Virginia’s compute-dense data center region, and said PJM paused applications in 2022 for new generating sources to connect to its grid, citing a years-long backlog.
The Tech Buzz framed the dispute as a battle between tech giants hungry for power, utilities struggling to keep up, and regulators caught in America’s “most critical infrastructure crisis,” with PJM’s proposed overhaul aimed at preventing cascading failures.
Bill Fehrman, AEP’s CEO, told TechCrunch that “The current state of PJM’s performance and stakeholder approval process does not give me great confidence that these issues will be resolved anytime soon.”
Reliability, costs, and planning
Global News said Canada’s federal government will soon release a discussion paper “seeking input on how it can work with provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, and other stakeholders to strengthen efforts to connect, modernise and expand the grid.”
“The AI revolution is hitting a hard physical limit, and it's not chips or talent - it's electricity”
In the U.S., TechCrunch said PJM proposed three options in its white paper, including requiring utilities and power generators to make bigger, longer-term commitments and changing reliability guarantees so those who pay less might get their power cut first.
TechCrunch also reported that PJM’s current approach requires electricity supply commitments for three years, and that PJM’s market design has “somewhat locked it into a three-year mindset” as solar and batteries can be installed faster than natural gas plants.
The Tech Buzz warned that the AI-driven demand creates an unexpected chokepoint that “threatens to slow the entire industry,” while describing PJM’s interconnected grid as meaning problems could ripple across the Eastern seaboard.
More on Technology and Science
Cloudflare Cuts 1,100 Jobs, Citing AI as CEO Matthew Prince Says It’s First Mass Reduction
13 sources compared
WHO Says Andes Hantavirus Outbreak Aboard MV Hondius Killed Three, Quarantines 147
18 sources compared
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Coordinates MV Hondius Hantavirus Passenger Evacuation in Tenerife
30 sources compared
Jeju Air Accepts Unpaid Leave for Cabin Crew After High Oil Prices Reduce Flight Operations
12 sources compared