The Wall Street Journal highlights the situation in Georgia, where the state is grappling with the energy demands of new tech and industrial businesses while trying to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The article suggests that flexibility in using diverse power sources, including renewables, nuclear, and fossil fuels, is key. It also mentions that Meta/Facebook is working with a Georgia co-op and solar developer, Silicon Ranch, to power its data centers.
Key takeaways:
- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that energy constraints will become the next major bottleneck for the IT industry, following the end of the GPU drought.
- Zuckerberg notes that new data centers are consuming significant amounts of energy, with some requiring up to 150 megawatts, and predicts that this could increase to 300 or 500 megawatts, or even a gigawatt.
- He suggests that investing in energy production will become increasingly important, noting that the process of creating a new power station, including regulatory compliance, planning, and construction, can take many years.
- The article also discusses the challenges faced by the US state of Georgia in balancing the energy demands of new tech and industrial businesses with efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, highlighting the importance of flexibility and the use of diverse power sources.