Power, Policy, and the Price of Progress – Part Two: The Energy Equation

Part 2 of the investigative series: Power, Policy, and the Price of Progress

In this second installment, we shift focus from the political momentum that launched Virginia’s data center boom to the invisible toll it’s beginning to take on our electric grid.

With AI systems like ChatGPT pushing data demand to new heights, utility providers are scrambling to keep up. But that scramble could come at a cost—higher electric bills for rural residents, pressure on transmission lines, and a grid not built for this kind of load. As Mark Zuckerberg announces Meta’s plan to invest billions in new supercluster data centers, including the 1-gigawatt Prometheus, we’re left to ask: how sustainable is this growth?

We explore what a gigawatt really means, why AI needs so much power, and how utility regulators are bracing for a future that’s already here.

This story was made possible by support from the Listening Post Collective, which funds independent, community-centered journalism like this. You can find Parts 1 and 2 of this series, and future follow-ups, online at AlleghenyMountainRadio.org.

🎧 Listen to Part 2 now: The Energy Equation – AI, Data Centers, and the Strain on the Grid