{"text":[[{"start":8.88,"text":"A leading US clean energy investor has warned of the risk of overbuilding energy infrastructure for the AI boom, urging power companies to require data centres cover the cost of the build-out — whether they use the electricity or not."}],[{"start":26.560000000000002,"text":"David Crane, chief executive of Generate Capital, an investment firm with $8bn assets under management, told the FT that data centres’ rush to secure electricity may result in excess power plants — the costs of which could fall on power companies."}],[{"start":44.790000000000006,"text":"“As much as the data centre people tell you their demand for electricity is infinite, it feels to me like there will be a time when they’ll be overbuilt. They’re going to have spare electrons,” he said. "}],[{"start":59.290000000000006,"text":"“Someone’s got to pay for the infrastructure that’s put in place and then not being used . . . you need to have take-or-pay contracts, so if they suddenly don’t need the power, it’s on the back of the data centre company, not the power company.”"}],[{"start":74.08000000000001,"text":"Generate Capital is a sustainable infrastructure investor and owner-operator, with a focus on sectors such as power, electric vehicles and industrial decarbonisation. "}],[{"start":86.41000000000001,"text":"The company develops on-site gas, battery and renewable power supplies for data centres and holds investments in data centre developers such as Soluna. "}],[{"start":97.96000000000001,"text":"Crane served as under-secretary for infrastructure in former president Joe Biden’s energy department and as CEO of power giant NRG Energy. "}],[{"start":108.91000000000001,"text":"His comments come as the US power grid struggles to keep up with the wave of data centre-fuelled electricity demand."}],[{"start":117.4,"text":"BloombergNEF estimates US data centre power demand is set to surge from 34.7 gigawatts in 2024 to 106GW by 2035."}],[{"start":130.75,"text":"Companies such as Sam Altman’s OpenAI have warned AI “requires far more electricity than the US can currently provide and the growing shortfall threatens our leadership”."}],[{"start":143.68,"text":"To avoid long waits to connect to the grid and alleviate concerns about their impact on utility bills, data centre companies are turning to on-site power plants and contracting newly built supply, and power companies are rushing to meet this demand. "}],[{"start":160.11,"text":"NextEra Energy, the largest electricity company in the US, said it is planning to build at least 15GW of new plants for data centres over the next nine years, equivalent to the power demands of 15mn homes."}],[{"start":178.5,"text":"Utility capital spending plans have risen 19 per cent for 2026 to 2030, according to Wolfe Research."}],[{"start":188.48,"text":"But concerns are rising over how large data centre’s ultimate demand for power will be and how the costs to build them will be recovered. "}],[{"start":200.07999999999998,"text":"Because on-site power plants are less reliable than a grid connection, they have to be built oversized to ensure the data centre stays online. If a data centre is eventually connected to the grid it may end up with more energy than it needs."}],[{"start":218.13,"text":"Data centres could also require less power as AI chips become more efficient, or if quantum computing takes off."}],[{"start":227.01,"text":"“The AI ship has sailed, but the energy cost of serving it is very much in question,” said Ben Hertz-Shargel, global head of grid edge at Wood Mackenzie."}],[{"start":239.44,"text":"However, Crane said overbuilding could present an “opportunity” if planned for correctly, with underused power plants integrated back into the grid to boost supply for regular customers and bring down electricity costs."}],[{"start":266.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1774945518_9545.mp3"}