A heatwave across the eastern United States is expected to push electricity demand toward record levels this week, grid operators say, as temperatures climb above 38C (100F) from Boston to Washington. PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. regional grid operator, forecast record summer demand of about 166.3 gigawatts, surpassing a peak set in 2006.
Heatwaves routinely strain the grid as air conditioners run harder. But this summer's strain coincides with a second, longer-term shift in electricity demand: the rapid growth of data centers built to run artificial intelligence.
Why AI changes the math
The largest hyperscale data centers each draw between 100 and 300 megawatts — enough, depending on assumptions, to power tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand homes — and a single AI task can use up to 1,000 times more electricity than a traditional web search, according to the reporting. That creates concentrated, large new loads that regional grids were not designed to absorb.
Forecasts reflect the scale. U.S. data-center power demand is projected to rise from about 61.8 gigawatts in 2025 to 75.8 gigawatts in 2026, and to 134.4 gigawatts by 2030, when data centers could consume an estimated 9% to 17% of the country's electricity, according to figures cited by the energy-data firm NZero and Quartz.
Who pays
The strain is already showing up in prices. In PJM, the capacity-market clearing price for the 2026-2027 delivery year rose to $329.17 per megawatt-day, more than ten times the $28.92 of two years earlier — an increase analysts have linked in part to rapid data-center growth. Those are costs that analysts warn can ultimately reach consumers' bills.
What to watch
This week's heat is a short-term stress test; the data-center buildout is a structural one. How regulators, utilities and grid operators add capacity — and how they divide its cost between households and the companies driving the new demand — will shape the grid's reliability and affordability for years.