US power grid advances plan to address rising electricity demand, and crypto miners should pay attention

America’s electricity grid is about to get a serious makeover. The largest US power grid operators are expanding infrastructure plans to meet a demand surge that hasn’t been seen in decades, driven by a convergence of AI data centers, electric vehicles, manufacturing growth, and crypto mining operations that are collectively straining a system built for a different era. For roughly two decades, US electricity demand was essentially flat. Efficiency gains quietly offset population growth and economic expansion. That streak is definitively over. The numbers behind the power scramble The US Energy Information Administration projects electricity consumption will climb from 4,195 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025 to 4,269 billion kWh in 2026, then to 4,399 billion kWh by 2027. That increase adds a continuous load equivalent to roughly 23 gigawatts, which is enough to power millions of homes. Annual demand growth is expected to average around 5.7% over the next five years, according to findings from Grid Strategies and ICF. Peak demand growth could reach 166 GW. To put that in perspective, the entire country of France has a peak demand of around 100 GW. On the infrastructure side, 888 miles...