The EIA says electricity demand will hit record highs in 2026 and 2027. Data centers running AI workloads are a big reason why. So are homes and businesses switching from gas to electric heating, and gas cars to EVs. This is a genuine shift in how the country uses power.
Big tech isn't waiting to see if the grid can handle it. Microsoft signed a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor. That's 835 megawatts starting in 2028, earmarked for data centers. Google cut a deal with Kairos Power for small modular reactors, targeting 500 megawatts by 2030. Amazon Web Services poured over $500 million into X-energy and backed a project at the Hanford Site. Cloud giants are betting big on nuclear infrastructure.
Not everyone buys the forecast. Industry analysts have pointed out that AI's share of demand growth gets a lot of attention but may be overstated. The Washington Post reported that some planned data centers are on hold or being reconsidered. If those builds stall, the demand might not materialize quite like the EIA expects.
More computing means more power. That much is clear. The real question is whether nuclear and renewables can scale fast enough without falling back on fossil fuels. The tech companies betting on reactors think they know the answer.